photos from this weekend

This weekend I had the privilege to do a photo session with 2 families and 4 amazing kids. Here are some of the proofs from this weekend!

Parker and Morgan






David and Kimberly

Everybody has a story

Our story is what makes us who we are...Some of the chapters are good, some are bad, but none the less, they make up our story... so here is my question for you... What's your story and Who is writing your story? Take a minute and think about it, how much better would our stories be if the Lord wrote it for us? So tell me, What is your story?

Haiti/ Dominican Republic Harvest Project

I am a part of a young adult group at church called Frontline. Frontline is a young adult generation aiming to reach out to Nashville, surrounding communities and the nations, through love and humility, by taking a stand to effect change.

At the start of the year, Frontline as a group, has collectively committed to raise $1000 to send with members from Frontline to plant a church on the border of Haiti.

Here is some information about Haiti:

• Haiti is the 3rd poorest country in the world.
• The unemployment rate is 80 percent, and underemployment is rampant. More than half of all Haitians live on less than $1 a day.
• Tropical Storm Hanna has wreaked havoc on Haiti, a nation already ravaged by disease, food shortages, near-constant violence and extreme poverty. At least 150,000 Haitians have been displaced; few vehicles can operate; and there is very little access to drinking water, food and shelter.
• The damage merely compounds the already extreme conditions in Haiti. On the sunniest of days, persistent unemployment and food shortages have resulted in violent civil and political unrest.

How do we help effect change?

• To encourage foreign investment into the Haitian community-- the most powerful tool of development to stabilize a broken society
• By assisting families through helping meet needs in a poverty stricken society
• Supporting and sustaining a healthy environment for children to grow in
• Creating resources for parents to be better role models and mentors for kids

This plant will aid in these areas and beyond as we come together and sow in to the people of the DR and Haiti. A community hungry and able, that will inevitably permeate through surrounding towns as we see these seeds begin to grow, and will ultimately effect change.

My small group has decided to take photos for donations to raise money for this project... If you are interested, (and live in TN), let me know and we can set something up. If you don't, but still want to donate to this great project, please let me know.

Thank you for your contribution as we unite to serve and help the people of the Dominican Republic and Haiti!

Excitement for what is to come

 Many of you know that I am a photographer, the Lord has recently released me to start really diving into launching my freelance business... I have a journal that I have been writing down ideas and things that the Lord has said to me and inspired me to create.  

The heart of this freelance endeavor is missions.  As many of you also know, I feel like I have been called to the mission field full time.  Well, I've been praying about what to do until I get there and the Lord has said to support the current missionaries financially because the support of those back home is who I will be living off of when I am on the mission field.   That being said, more than half of everything I make this year off of my photography is going to be given to support current missionaries through New Song's Harvest Project.  

As I have been seeking the Lord and doing research on how exactly to launch this new site (which will have galleries, an online store, and more), I am realizing more and more how I cannot do this alone!  There is a cost to start some of these things, and I am seeking the Lord on how to accomplish that.  He keeps telling me to ask for help from others (living in community is another thing I have been learning...)

Anyways, I'm seeking the Lord about some possible investors, which companies to go through for my galleries/store, and marketing. 

I will update you all through my blog as I learn through this process.  I'm so excited for what the Lord has stirred in my heart.  

Please join me in prayer.   I am supporting people who are spreading the gospel, and we have an enemy that doesn't want that to happen.  

Check back for more updates on the process!  I will let you all know when the site is up and running!

I am your Servant

This is something that I have been praying for a while now... I now feel like it needs to be shared.  So here it is...

I am your servant, God
Where you want me to go, I will go
Point the direction. Show me the way.
You called me to work with your children.
They want to hear your voice, God
They want to know you.
Help me show them the Creator of the universe.
Send me enthusiasm when I don't feel enthusiastic.
Send me patience when I'm out of it.
Send me large shoulders to lean and cry on.
Send me ears to hear the things that aren't being said.
Send me eyes to see beneath the surface.
Send me words to say when they ask the hard questions.
Give me the ability to laugh at myself.
I am your servant, God
Where you want me to go, I will go.
Point the direction. Show me the way
Amen

Photographs

When words become unclear,
I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate,
I shall be content with silence
-Ansel Adams

New Year

When 2008 started, I was in California. 2009 was brought in with a game of monopoly in Michigan. 2008 was a year of new beginnings and I can't wait to see what the Lord has for me in 2009. As I was thinking about what the past year was for me, I am overwhelmed with joy. Even though everything that happened in 2008 wasn't fun to walk through, I grew closer to the Lord through it all. I know that the Lord has so much in store for me this next year, will it always be easy? No, but who said that following the Lord daily would be easy? But it is so worth it.
So I hope everyone had a great new year celebration and I pray that this next year is full of the abundance of the Lord.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

If you give a mouse a cookie,

He's going to ask for a glass of milk.

When you give him a glass of milk, he'll probably ask you for a straw.

When he's finished, he'll ask for a napkin.

Then he will want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache.

When he looks in the mirror, he might notice his hair needs a trim.

So he will probably ask for a pair of scissors.

When he's finished giving himself a trim, he'll want a broom to sweep up.

He'll start sweeping.  He might get carried away and sweep every room in the house.

He may even end up washing the floors as well!

When he's done, he'll probably want to take a nap.  You will have to fix a little box for him

with a blanket and a pillow.

He'll crawl in, make himself comfortable and fluff the pillow a few times.

He'll probably ask you to read him a story.  So you'll read him one from one of your books,

and he'll ask to see the pictures.  When he looks at the pictures, he'll get so excited he'll 

want to draw one of his own.  He'll ask for paper and crayons.

He'll draw a picture. 

When the picture is finished, he'll want to sign his name with a pen.

Then he'll want to hang his picture on your refrigerator.

Which means he will need...scotch tape.

He'll hang up his drawing and stand back to look at it.  Looking at the refrigerator will remind

him that he's thirsty so...

he'll ask for a glass of milk.

And chances are, if he asks for a glass of milk, 

he's going to want a cookie to go with it. 

The first thing I thought about when I read this story was that sometimes, I am the mouse in this story.  This story made me stop and think about what I am asking the Lord for, and then am I satisfied with what the Lord has and is giving me?  OR am I constantly unsatisfied and always asking for something else?  Do I receive what the Lord is giving me and then quickly forget about that and want something else?  OR am I receiving what the Lord is giving me and standing in the beauty of that?  

When I went back to read it again, I the Lord showed me that sometimes HE is the mouse... wait.. stay with me, hear me out... 

When I became a follower of the Lord, that was the first thing I gave Him.  As I grow in Him, He is constantly asking me to give things up for Him.  Things that are not good for my life, maybe make a sacrifice for Him.  He asks for a cookie, or a glass of milk from me, when I choose to not give that up, He might ask for something else...He asks for me to hand Him scissors so He can cut the strings of bondage for me, I just have to allow Him to... He wants to sweep "every room" of my life, AND clean the floors. Some of those things, I might choose to give up to Him with no resistance, and some of those things I might struggle with more.  The Lord wants to write and read me my story, at His pace.  He wants to draw pictures for me, that coincide with my story, sign HIS name and then put it on the fridge for me to see.  Yet when I look at the picture, I am sometimes focused more on the picture rather than the artist; and sometimes I look past the picture and the Lord is asking for those things I've held onto for so long.  My milk and my cookie... He never forgot about those hurts, disappointments, failures, but because He loves me so much, He is asking for them again.  Because He wants to take those things from me.  I mean that is the whole reason He came to DIE for me, so that I wouldn't hold onto that stuff. 

He is constantly asking us to give ourselves to Him.  So that He can write our story for us and then read it to us when the time is right.  

So I have two questions for you... When you ask the Lord for something, are you satisfied with the answer He gives you, are you constantly asking for something else?  and 

Is He asking you to release something to Him?  

Ask the Lord to show you areas that you need to release to Him, and then don't be stubborn about it.  Know that there is freedom on the other side of releasing those things!  

 

Snow in Tennessee

Ok, it's been a while since I've posted.. I'm sorry.  There is a lot going on and I am working on writing it all down.  I'll post it soon... Meanwhile, it snowed in Tennessee!!  It doesn't usually snow out here, but yesterday it got cold enough, so here you have it.  This is my first snowfall that I have experienced, and I was so excited!  It was a little scary driving on the snow and ice, but I got where I needed to go safely.  One neat thing that came from the snow was an unplanned roommate night.  Jeannie was originally supposed to have rehearsal up in Cool Springs, but they cancelled that because of road conditions, so we both were home and worked on Christmas gifts. (we are both making a majority of our gifts this year).  I had a blast!!!  We looked like 2 old ladies sitting in our living room, painting, sewing and watching White Christmas.  :)

When I woke up this morning, I looked out my window and saw the beautiful blanket of white snow on the ground.  It was such a great image for me of the Lord's purity.  Enjoy the pictures!!

First FREEZE of the season

Ok, so for 21 years, the title of this entry have NEVER been in my vocabulary!  "First FREEZE of the season"-this is what my roommate told me this morning.  Here's the story.  I woke up (extremely cold mind you), in an attempt to warm my core body temp. I went and put my jeans in the dryer so they would be nice and hot when I put them on, then I put on my shirts, jacket, shoes and went to my car to start my day... I got in, started it and turned on the windshield wipers to get the "dew" off... but nothing happened!  That wasn't dew on my windshield, it was frost!!! It wasn't going anywhere!

So, I went back inside and said: "Jeannie, I have a CA question for you... how do you get ice or frost off your windshield?  I've never had to deal with this before!"  She looks at me and says something along the lines of "what you don't have an ice scraper?"  NO!!  I'M FROM CALIFORNIA, WE DON'T NEED THOSE!!!!  So she told me where hers was in her car, I went out and started scraping ice and frost off of my car!!  Looks like I am going to go buy an ice scraper today after work!

Being in a place where the temperature drops below 60 has really opened my eyes to how great we Californians have it.  I've really been trying not to compare CA to TN, but this is one thing that I must compare! 

I've been looking at the weatherchannel.com and the high for Costa Mesa, CA today is 81 degrees... the high for Spring Hill, TN is 58!  When I woke up this morning it was 32 degrees... 

I am NOT use to it being this cold, or freezing, but I'm choosing to enjoy it!  And everybody out here I'm sure is getting a good laugh out of my newness to this weather!  Being in this also is showing me how weak we Californians are when it comes to weather and our comfort....

Wait upon the Lord...

I was driving away from my mentoring this morning and a song started playing.  As I was listening to it and processing what my mentor and I had talked about, I started thinking.. what does it really mean for me to wait upon the Lord?  So many times in my life, I have set aside an hour a day (or so) as "God's time" in which I would pray, read my Bible and 'wait' on Him, but as soon as that time is done, then I'm done.. is that really waiting on the Lord?  no...  I think that setting aside time for the Lord daily is a huge part of it, but I can't be restricted to just that time.  Through my meeting this morning, I got new insight into what it means to wait upon the Lord. There are things I'm walking through right now that aren't necessarily bad, but they aren't for this season.  I have to wait upon the Lord and His timing.. and to be completely honest, I'm not happy about it.  It is hard and there is a part of me that doesn't want to. I want to pursue these things.  I want to keep walking this out to see what happens, but when I really stop and examine my heart, so much more of me wants to pursue the Lord and be in complete obedience to Him.  I want an intimacy with the Lord like never before and in order to reach that level of intimacy, I have to lay these things down.  And when it hurts, that is when I need to press into the Lord the most.. Wait on Him and trust that He has my best interest at heart. Why is obedience so hard?!?!?  For me right now, it is because it is dealing with matters of the heart, and I want to control that.  I'm holding the key to my heart and not releasing that to the Lord, even though He has always held that key and will continue to...  I also think it is because a lot of the time, with the Lord, it requires me to stop thinking about myself; take my eyes off me and what I think is best for me and focus them on the Lord.  And lets face it.. that's not easy either!  I'm in an interesting place right now because I so want it to be the season for some stuff, but at the same time I have such a peace about it not being...  

So back to the song and waiting upon the Lord... What are some things that could come from waiting upon Him?  Well, chains will be broken, Lives will be healed, Eyes will be opened, and above all, Christ will be revealed.  This has become my prayer and declaration for this time... Here are the lyrics to the song that sparked this very long post, most of you know it...  if you don't, you can listen to it here.

You'll Come by Brooke Fraser

I have decided

I have resolved

To wait upon You Lord

My rock and Redeemer

Shield and reward

I'll wait upon You Lord

As surely as the sun will rise

You'll come to us

As certain as the dawn appears

You'll come, let Your glory fall

As You respond to us

Spirit reign, flood into our thirsty hearts again

You'll come

You'll come

We are not shaken, we are not moved

We wait upon You Lord

Our Mighty deliverer, my triumph and truth

We wait upon You Lord

Chains be broken

Lives be healed

Eyes be opened

Christ is revealed

Birthday number 22

A tradition I started 5 years ago on my birthday was waking up to watch the sunrise! This time last year I was at Bolsa Chica State Beach watching the sunrise over the mountains. (see the view here). Today I watched the same sun rise over a field in Tennessee with rain pouring down onto my car. What a difference a year makes! This year was a year of lots of change. Moving apartments in CA, friends, graduating from college and moving across the county in faith. Some of the change wasn't good. Some of the change didn't feel good, but most of it was good (yes, even the change that didn't feel good). Looking back on this year though, even with all the change and unknown, there was one constant... the LORD! In every season that this past year brought the Lord was there and He was faithful and good! He still is! But now I look forward. I loko forward to the adventures I'm going to have. I look forward to the relationships that are going to be born, grow, stretch, and be refined. This past year I have been learning about faithfulness and the Lord has been faithful always. He has been there for every step of this journey I call my life... year after year.. birthday after birthday.

Our Lord is pretty much AWESOME!!!

This weekend was a blast for me.  I was able to spend time with friends, which is always fun!!  And what made it even funner (i know that is not a word, but stick with me).. was that we were able to do some fun things together.  Friday, we went to a corn maze, Saturday we went to a small market in the country, ate sandwiches on the porch and then threw rocks at signs... and then Sunday celebrate my birthday!  

On Friday after the corn maze, we got the chance to look through a telescope and see the planet Jupiter, some of its rings and 3 of its moons.  We then got to see another galaxy..Andromeda (pictured above).    It blows my mind that there are billion and billions of stars in our galaxy (the Milky Way) and then to be able to see a whole other galaxy and know that there are billions upon billions of stars in that galaxy AND that the Lord placed them there and knows each star by name.  I think that is amazing and that even with all those billions of stars, He still cares for me; for my concerns.  One thing I am really loving about TN is that I am not in the city.  I can lay out and see the stars without any lights, smog, etc.  I couldn't do that in Cali.  I never realized how much I loved looking at the stars.  It is so peaceful!  It is an amazing time to really contemplate and think on the Lord!  

Laughs at work... pt. 2... holes in ceilings

Ok, so I said I would write another post about funny things that have happened at work recently...  About a week ago, we were shooting another pick up shot for Prof Sock, and we blew a fuse with all the lights.  So, Brandon and I went into the attic b/c he was going to show me which fuse I needed to flip.  I couldn't exactly see where he was pointing, so I stepped on a beam and my foot slipped... yup, then my leg went through the ceiling!  But it wasn't any ceiling, it was the ceiling into our boss' office.  And as my luck would have it, Bill was in his office... and take it even further, he was in a meeting with Mark and a prospective INVESTOR!!!  So here I am, my leg dangling in the air in his office with them all in a meeting... It all happened so fast, that it took a minute for us all to register what had just happened.  When it did, Bill and Mark asked if I was ok, I said I was and then removed my leg from the hole... Meanwhile, Chuck heard something, and he came in and totally started laughing!  He made sure I was ok, but then had to leave because he was laughing too hard and didn't want Bill to hear.. But Chuck helped me make a temp. fix for Bill....

Laughs at work... pt. 1... green screen

At work, we made a small $8 green screen to do some pickup shots. 

It is 6 pieces of poster board held up with gaffers tape.  When we were putting the poster board together, we taped it with clear scotch tape... i mentioned that we should tape the back so that it doesn't show up on screen... my boss said that it would be fine on the front, so that is what we did... We shot some of what we needed, and we found that the tape was causing a little reflection and making it hard to key... so my boss told me that we should have done the back like i had originally said and asked if i would take it down and fix it...

. we had laughs about that!  

SO today, i was taking down the board and i started pulling off the gaffer's tape and my boss said that it wouldn't tear the poster board, immediately after he said that guess what happened?!?!?  THE POSTER BOARD TORE! hahaha!  Chuck was amazed!  He then said something along the lines of at least it won't rip the paint off the 

wall, and..  yup, you guessed it... IT DID!  we had such a hard laugh because (A) gaffer's tape isn't supposed to do that and (B) it was just so funny how the exact opposite of whatever Chuck said happened!  

Chuck quickly changed his facebook status to "Chuck Peters is disappointed with Gaffers tape..."

I'm so glad that I work in a place where we can laugh together.  It makes the workplace so much more enjoyable... 

like the title said, this is just part 1,  I need to get some pictures of another hilarious moment and then i will blog about that as well!

Strength will rise

Isaiah 40:29-31

"He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases their strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary.  And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength;  They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

Franklin Classic 10K

For those who don't know, I am training with a group of people from my church for a half marathon (The Silver Comet).  Labor Day was a big day for me.  My first race!  We ran as a group and individually in the Franklin Classic 10K.  It was a great run and I finished at about an hour 20.  Although it was hot and humid (not the ideal running conditions), there was one thing that made it bearable...the breeze!  It wasn't a constant breeze, but it was there when I needed it the most.  So good!  Even though the breeze was welcomed as a way to cool me down, it was sometimes an opposition.  How?  Well, it is difficult running into the wind sometimes.  

Another opposition I was facing about half way into the run was injury/soreness.  My hip has been bothering me for about the past 2 weeks of training and that flared up again in this race.  But thanks to the comrades I had running with me, I was able to push through most 

of the pain, but walked when I needed. 

 Throughout the race I had a steady pace, but when I saw the finish line, I knew that I was almost done and almost to the point of accomplishing my goal for the day!  So I sprinted the last part of it...It was such a great feeling crossing the finish line, but while I was alone in my run,  I was welcomed across with my teammates cheering me on!  Such a wonderful feeling!

Anyways, back to the original reason for the post... While I was sitting in Utopia (a local coffee shop), I was praying about the day and thinking through some stuff and the wind from

 that morning came back to mind.  Even though it is wonderful, it can still be an opposition to a runner.  That is true of some things in life.  Although they are good, appear to be good, they can be an opposition to us (me) if it is not the right season for them.  Thinking about that reminded me that I must continually be in th

e Word and seeking discernment so that I don't chase after good things that aren't for me in the season I am in currently.  Constantly testing those things, words, opportunities against the Bible and taking them to the Lord to see if it is really for me now.

A vessel for the Lord to Use

I am continually being reminded of how what I have in the Lord is a gift and how I can and need to share that gift with other people.  I am also continually learning how to listen more to the Holy Spirit to talk to people.  Sometimes it may seem like the most inopportune time, or such an awkward place, but those are the moments that make the difference.  Taking conversation to the next level, beyond just saying "hi", but really meaning your words, engaging in conversation and asking questions about their life!  My friend Kaycee and I have been experiencing this a lot this past week.  Talk about random places..last night it was at Taco Bell!  We spoke with the girl who took our order at the counter, and then we went and sat down.  I didn't really think anything of it, but when we sat down and started eating, she came around and Kaycee and I both got that look in our eye of: "we're going to talk with her and find out her story"...so we did!  She is a hurting girl.  A girl crying out for someone to listen to her, she has a longing for something more, she just doesn't know what it is... So before we left, I told her that we would be praying for her and that we would come in next week to see how things were going.  

Who knows the impact Kaycee and I had on her last night?  But the Lord knows what she needed to hear and when she needed to hear it.  This is true of so many people.  We might not the impact that our words have on someone, but I am at a point in my life where I am continually offering my life and my body as a vessel for the Lord to use to touch people where they are.  Join me? 

Please Pray...

Please pray for my boss' family.  Chuck is up here in Tennessee and his family is still in Flordia.  They had to stay there until their house sells.  Now they are in the middle of Hurricane Fay.  Cris, Chuck's wife, is there with their two daugthers, Tally and Tristan.  Please pray that their house does not sustain ANY damage whatsoever and that they remain safe as well!  

thanks, I'll keep you updated!!

Birthday Celebration!

Lisa Hall is a friend of mine; yesterday was her 27th birthday and we had a grand celebration!  She didn't want to have a big celebration for herself, rather she wanted to gather her family and celebrate the Lord, how good He is and what He is doing in her life and all of our lives!  The mere fact that she is celebrating her 27th birthday is a miracle in itself because just 3 weeks ago, she was in a nasty car wreck.  Her car was rolled 3 times and totally crushed, EXCEPT for the drivers side.  The Lord had HIS hand on her during that wreck and she has only minor injuries compared to what could have happened.  We are celebrating the LORD and His goodness and protection in her life!  So last night was not only a celebration of her life, but an offering of praise to the LORD.  We spent a good portion of time in worship, like I said, just praising God for who He is, and receiving from the Lord.  And in the mist of a time when you would think we should be speaking over her, Lisa started speaking over us, challenging us, and just sharing her heart and the Lord's heart to us.  Once she finished that, we sang some more and Ten we spent time praying over Lisa; Declaring healing over her L1 vertebrae, speaking words of prophecy over her life and just covering her.  

It was not your "typical" birthday party, but it was so much better!  So perfect for where she is in life right now!  I mean, why not celebrate and praise the Lord  on the day you were born, it is because of Him that we each are still drawing breath on this earth!  

I walked away from that party different than when I walked in.  The Lord met me there and is rocking my face off (that is a Lisa-ism..haha!)

So Happy Birthday Lisa!  I love you and I believe everything that was spoken over you last night is from the LORD!