The Beloved Portrait Project
Photography is clearly a passion of mine - the beauty and expression it creates is like nothing else (in my opinion). I love documenting the stories of my children and our lives. When I am able to give a client a snapshot of HOW well they are loved, to look back at anytime, well - there is nothing I enjoy more. Because when I really dug deep, found the ROOT of this love of working with clients - well it’s showing them that they are really seen, really loved by their people. As mamas, we don’t always see the way it looks for a little hand to clutch ours or reach out for us. As women, we don’t always notice the way our husbands glance over at us lovingly. We don’t always see that we are seen.
Knowing this about myself and doing some more deep digging in other areas of my life, I realized just how much I want people to know, really really know, what it looks like to be loved. More specifically, the way we are loved by Jesus. A love that transformed the life of a hopeless, lonely and broken teenage girl. A love that brought this wife, mother and woman to her knees in surrender. When I gave my life to God, I was so weary and in a painful situation that felt like a prison. When God came in I was no longer alone. Then years later as a worn-too-thin mama of two small kids, who was facing challenges in other areas, I felt as though I was running out of air. The panic attacks got closer together, the physical pain became constant and more intense. It was in my moments of surrender that God breathed His breath back into my lungs. I was never alone, he’d never left me, but I had gotten distracted and looked away from Him. He never stopped running after me, one day I finally got tired of running from Him.
It’s been a several year process of understanding what it means to be loved. And now that I am grasping it, I want everyone to know about how possible it is to be surrounded by the peace that Jesus gives. How possible and transformative it is to see that our God loves us and sees us as beautiful-because He created us. And He does not make mistakes.
What if the world looked at women’s beauty the way our Creator does? More importantly, what if we saw ourselves the way the Creator does? How would that have made a difference in your life?
My hope and prayer with this project is to intentionally help women see themselves at least a little bit more the way our God does, fearfully and wonderfully made.
If you are interested in being a part of the Beloved Portrait Project please reach out, I am always opening new spots and am looking for ALL women, of every age, ethnicity and life stage.
