Friday, June 29, 2018

Jesus Sees the Bigger Picture and has a Greater Purpose for Us!

This blog comes from my devotion (First 5; Exodus Plan) from today combined with a family I have had the honer of taking photos for...

 Exodus 1:6-7, "Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful: they multiplied greatly, increased in number and became so numerous that the land was filled with them."

 Jesus tells us that as long as we are full of faith and trust in Him alone, His plans are much greater than we will ever know. Exodus 1:7 shows us where God fulfills His promise to Abraham in Genesis 17: "Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers... for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful." God fulfilled His promises! On the flip side, sometimes His promises come with trials and storms. Not because God is out to get us but to show us who He really is and to draw us closer to Him. When the population of Israelites became so large, Pharaoh was not happy. The large population was scaring him to the point he thought he would lose control. Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites, when that was not enough he called for all the midwives to kill every boy born, and when that fell through, he called for all mothers to kill all the baby boy in the Nile river.

 At this point, I'm sure these people felt abandoned & forgotten by God. They followed God and did as they were told, but disaster is striking. Why does this happen?

God uses our time of trials and storms to (as spoken in Isaiah 48:10)...
1. purge sin from our lives
2. to strengthen our walk with Him
3. force us to depend on Him
4. to bind us together on community
5. to cause us to know and trust Him more

 God knew in the midst of their enslavement, they would experience His POWER, see His GLORY, and draw CLOSER to Him. When Pharaoh ordered the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill baby boys right after delivery, they did not listen to him. They knew God was greater and they had faith and trusted God. God protected them from Pharaoh, He showed kindness to them and gave them families of their own.

Just like the Israelites and the midwives, we go through storms and trials as we follow God. Are we willing to have the same faith and trust? If we follow God, He will honor His word in faithfulness and fulfill His promises. No matter what we see or feel we have to keep our eyes on God and trust Him completely.

I had the honor of taking photos for a family that has been in the adoption world a little longer than most. They have been through more than one failed adoption and still have the faith and trust as the Israelites. As they have held strong and gotten their strength from Jesus, he blessed them with a sweet baby girl. As this adoption is still not final, their faith and trust still stands.

Looking from the outside in, I want my faith and trust to reflect in me as it does them and the way it did with the Israelites. They weren't shaken and God blessed them. Through all the storms and trials of life, if we have faith and trust Him fully, there are blessings that are far greater than we can see! Jesus sees the bigger picture and has a far greater purpose for us! His ways are always better than our ways!

Let's talk if this stirred something in your heart.



Friday, June 24, 2011

Florida Beach Vacation

This year we decided to something a little different for vacation.  We have never been on vacation with anyone other than family or by ourselves, so we went with Nicole and Travis.  We stayed at Little Harbor in Ruskin, FL.  It was nice, but definitely not what we expected.  Amongst several other things we did while we were on vacation, we ventured to the Zoo, which was the #1 zoo in the US.  Also, Nicole being 23 weeks pregnant with twins wanted to do a Mini Sunset Maternity shoot.  Here are a couple of photos from the Zoo and Nicole's Mini Sunset Maternity shoot.



Thursday, June 23, 2011

Amanda Photo Session | Greenville SC Portraits

Amanda is my first model to work with.  It was a lot of fun working with her. She had so many great ideas and she does so well in front of a camera.  I look forward to my next shoot with her!!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Liberty Prom and Chandra's Mini Session | Greenville SC Couples

I had a blast this past weekend taking pre-prom photos of three couples from Liberty High.  I was honored.  I took photos of each couple picking up their dates, exchanging boutonnieres, and leaving the home.  We then went to The Rose Garden at Furman University to take more photos.  After the prom couples left, I did a mini shoot with one of the siblings.  Here are a few photos from the session.

Cory and Dustin's Engagement Shoot | Greenville SC Couples

Two weekends ago, I did an engagement shoot for Cory and Dustin.  I booked them last month to do their wedding and Dusin's Bridal shoot.  I had a blast with this couple.  They were very easy to photograph and they both have awesome personalities!!!  I cannot wait to shoot their wedding!!!  Here are a few photos from the session:


Friday, March 25, 2011

HDR Photography

In my recent photoshop class, we learned about HDR (high dynamic range).  When you take 2 under exposed, 1 exposed, and 2 over exposed photos of the same image, and layer them together.  I love doing this.  It is very artsy and you will definitely be seeing more of this style from me.  Here is a sample.

Shirley/Shepard Family Portaits | Greenville SC Family Portraits

This session I did two families together.  Byron and Adrienne are siblings so this worked out great.  These photos were taken at the Botanical Gardens in Clemson, SC.  It was rather warm that day, but we had a lot of fun.