My sweet husband surprised me with a mini road trip for my birthday! For me, road trips mean lots of time for genuine conversations and thinking. While driving, I did a lot of verbal processing with my very patient husband just about all I am learning about this new business. With teaching third graders full time and coming home to an energetic, attention-seeking foster love, I don’t get much time to really think. After finally having time to think about what this new business is going to look like long term and what my vision is, I wanted to share what was on my heart.
Since I was little, I have changed “what I want to be when I grow up” too many times to count. From ballerina, to journalist, to lawyer (because my dad said I argued too much), to medical missionary (until I barely got a C in beginning biology), to orphanage worker, to camp owner, to teacher, and now photographer… I have dreamed up so many different paths for my life. However, no matter which dreams I was dreaming, one thing remained the same: my love for my Savior and my passion to serve Him and share Him in whichever path I am on. I have gotten to share the Gospel verbally and easily through jobs like camp ministry and my time at the Wade Center, but I have also gotten to share the Gospel with my actions and the love I show to my kids while teaching. I believe Will and I’s most important ministry right now is our ministry with our foster love. We get to spend every day intentionally loving her, showing her grace, and sharing the Gospel with her. However, I don’t believe that is my only ministry opportunity right now. Now what in the world does that have to do with photography??
I really want the gift and passions that God has given me for photography to be used to serve and love others well. While I am hoping for this to take off as a business, I also want it to take off as a ministry opportunity to get to meet and love friends I wouldn’t ordinarily get the chance to know! I love the creative side of it all. I love searching for the perfect light and learning about composition and editing to see the final images. But even more than that, I love spending time getting to know new people! In any personality quiz I take, I am an over-the-top extrovert. The last one I took said 100% extraverted! I thrive from time spend developing real relationships with others. I have met so many wonderful people already and have created memories with them while taking their photos. As I venture farther into the wedding industry, I don’t want to just be a random vendor that is paid and shows up to do a job. I want to get to know the stories of the couples I meet, and to serve them by making their day easy and stress-free! Most importantly, I want them to see the joy that I have because of the relationship with Christ.
As I was realizing that this new business can be such a great ministry opportunity, I was also thinking of what exactly I want it to look like. Right now, I love photographing anyone; I love families, and couples, and bride and grooms! But I want to focus my attention so I can become the best I can be. In order to do this, I want to incorporate parts of myself and my interests into my business. While this will definitely be primarily shooting weddings because I love getting to serve on such an important day, I also have a vision for an additional focus I want to have. I am not going to share this just yet, because I am still working out the details for what it will look like. I am hoping to share sometime this spring, so you’ll have to follow my journey to find out!
Also, our cabin is fantastic + I plan to spend most of the weekend reflecting and dreaming on this porch and in front of the fireplace!
