Thursday, April 23, 2015

asa and asher

 

Asa3 Asa4 Asa10 AsherandAsa2 AsherandAsa3

My first-ever newborn photo shoot was (in my own personal opinion, anyway) a success! Little Mr. Asa Isaac was not altogether delighted to have his portrait taken at 10 days old, but put a baby in the frame and how can it not turn out cute?! Fortunately his older brother was more than happy to get pictures with his new buddy. :)

Monday, April 20, 2015

the enemy

 

  Spokane2 Spokane3 GorgeSpokane6 Home

I spent one of the most glorious weekends of 2015 (to date) in Spokane, relishing the delicious dry sunshine and distinctive scent of eastern Washington and the company of some of my favorite friends. On my way back I was overwhelmed with the glory of all the mountains standing crisp and white against an unbelievably blue sky—the Stewarts, the Cascades, and of course my beautiful Mt. Rainier. What a beautiful God we must have, if any part of Him is reflected in His creation!

I stopped in Ellensburg and had lunch with my brother, and we got to talking about the strategies of the Enemy, and how he might like us to think his deceitful voice is actually that of God, or at least similar in power. It took me back to Genesis 3 and perhaps the clearest example in Scripture of Satan’s tactics for driving a wedge between us and God, and as I was lying in bed last night (yay 11:00pm inspiration) this is the conclusion I drew:

The oldest strategy of the Enemy is, first, to make me question the goodness of God—to make me doubt His actual investment in my very best interests. It doesn’t seem to matter how much evidence of His love and blessing I have in my life; I only have to latch onto one small thing I don’t have, or one small thing I’m not, or one small thing He might be keeping from me in order to mentally defame Him in this way. The next step is simply to fill that place with something else, something “better”; this will come in the form of my own small “wisdom,” and the Enemy will be happy to point out an object for that wisdom, which will likely be something incredibly useful (The woman saw that the tree was good for food), something unbearably enticing (and that it was a delight to the eyes), and/or something that addictively makes me feel “good” about myself or my life in some way (and that the tree was desirable to make one wise).

I may feed myself this slow-spreading poison for days, weeks, or even years before I come to fully understand what eternal spiritual fruit and fulfillment I have sacrificed for the sake of a relatively momentary, gluttonous satisfaction. I may not even realize that a chasm is being formed between myself and God. Perhaps my chosen vice is not even inherently a bad thing, but I have used it for a purpose that either I or it was never intended for—simply because I allowed my foundational understanding of God’s character to be eroded by the cunning questions of the Adversary.

Monday, April 13, 2015

a list of random thoughts and happy things

 

Loki Loki3 Thor Thor2

  • I finally got some good portraits of Loki, thanks to a spur-of-the-moment practice run with my new lighting setup. I’m discovering a newfound love of flash photography.
  • These pictures of Thor make me think of summertime and long-shadowed afternoons with light pouring in from all sides. :)
  • I finished chapter seven in the second draft of my book last week! That was a big hump to get over because it was the first chapter of Part Two, and somehow it’s been hard for me to get into the groove of Part Two after immersing myself so thoroughly into Part One. It’s almost like diving into a whole new book.
  • I’m having so much fun with Jamberry. Every single day it stretches me out of my comfort zone and while I hate that, I also love it. And I love the product so I have no complaints. :)
  • Some lovely ladies came over to my house yesterday and it was so good to hang out with friends and cultivate relationships. I am guilty of getting so caught up in my own life that I forget that there are other people I need to be investing in. Goal: do more fun one-on-one or small-group activities with the girls I know around here. They’re amazing people and I need to get to know them!
  • I have twooooo weddings coming up that I get to photograph! Some people say “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride”; I say “Always a photographer, never a bridesmaid!” But I wouldn’t have it any other way. :)
  • This week I’m roadtripping across the state to see some very favorite people. AND doing a photo shoot of their brand-new baby. You should probably be jealous.
  • I’ve been sick for at least 5 weeks total since the beginning of 2015 (that’s 4 different and very long-lasting sicknesses), which is almost as bad as my junior year in high school. :( I’ve been to doctors and naturopaths and I eat well and I take supplements and I exercise whenever I’m not running a fever, but nothing has been helping and I just don’t understand it.
  • My last day of work at the gym where I coach will be May 27, and I’m excited to not be working evenings anymore, but also sad because oddly I will miss teaching and miss my students. It’ll probably be good for my health to be away from the world of germs I know I come in contact with there though.
  • My handstands are getting SO MUCH BETTER! I’m around halfway to my goal of 10 seconds. :)
  • I’ve been designing like crazy the last couple weeks. Jamberry allows for so much creativity and I love it! I’m also designing some awesome marketing materials for my photography business. :) I could do that all day.
  • This list is getting really long and I’m off to eat some lunch before I try to do Jillian’s Killer Body workout for the first time since before my most recent sickness. Ah, muscle regression. So much fun.

I hope you’re all having a delightful April thus far!

Thursday, April 2, 2015

thor

 

ThorKitty11Thor (6) ThorKitty8 

This week, my kitten turned a year old. It’s funny because when I look at these pictures I overwhelmingly see Thor… Thor’s personality and Thor’s face and Thor’s mischief, just in baby version. It’s odd to me that I can see in his baby face his present self, and vice versa. This must be how parents feel when they look at their kids’ baby pictures. I’ve never had that experience before.

Thor Kitty 2 Thor Kitty 3 Thor Kitty

I do love this kitty. He trots into the house every morning with his massively fluffy tail bouncing along behind him, purring and ready to cuddle and snuggle before he embarks on his daily mission to be as mischievous as possible. He and his brother Loki bring us a lot of joy. (And frustration, but mostly joy. ;))

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