Firenze

A name

A pigeon

Cobblestones

Looking at photos from a destination wedding....

These tiny, tiny things fill my heart with 

A deep, unsettled yearning for Florence.

What Do You Do? {With a Drunken Sailor}

  This post is not about drunken people, nor about sailors.  I just had to put that in the title because who doesn't remember this song?!  I don't know where I heard it but it popped into my head as I typed the first words to the title....

  So, I digress...Back to the point of this post.....

.....................................................................................

  What do you do? 

  What do you do when the urge to travel is banging around in your skull, wanting to get out?

  What do you do when you have the threads of ideas and schemes for your business floating in your mind yet you don't know where to begin to bring those threads into a tapestry?

  What do you do when you really can't stand your day job (and it gets worse as the weeks progress) but you pray and pray and no door opens for you to go full time with what you love?

  What do you do when you think of moving out of your childhood home but realize that you don't have the money to do so?

  What do you do when you are praying for a spouse (a husband in my case) and a prospect comes along but then gets knocked out of the water for some reason?  (Disclaimer. I firmly believe all my "knocked out of the water" prospects were God closing the door because He has something much better for me.  But it still doesn't feel good at the time).

  What do you do when you realize that many of the beliefs you've held since childhood aren't the real deal?

  What do you do when you know that how your views and beliefs are changing is going to make very important people in your life unhappy but you know it's the right thing to do?

  Whew, boy....I need a break just from typing them all out. 

  Each of these questions is something that I've been dealing with over the past few months.

  It's a lot.  I think that most young adults go thru many of these questions at a much younger age (I'm 27 -almost 28 - for crying out loud) than I am; however, I don't know if going thru it earlier makes it any easier.

  I don't have an answer for any of the questions above.  I really don't.  I wish that I did. 

  There are days where I think that I have started to make progress with my business, days where I tightly hold onto the promises that God is going to provide me a husband, days where I like my day job.  But then, there are the days where my business seems like a failure, where I wonder when God is going to bless me with a husband, and where I HATE my day job and wish I was anywhere else but there.....

  And I still don't have any answers. 

  There are only a few things I know for a certainty, and I have been clinging to those things more and more lately.  One is that my God will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).  The other is that I don't have to figure out the in's and out's of everything in my life, whether it's trying to analyze something in my spiritual life or whether it's wondering why God isn't opening any doors for me to travel (Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalms 37:23).  All the Lord requires of me is to love Him first (Mark 12: 29-31) and to fear Him and serve Him in truth with all my heart (1 Samuel 12:24). 

  These reminders comfort me when I begin to get overwhelmed with all the "what do you do's" above. 

  Do you have any "what do you do" moments in your life?  Share.  Maybe we can encourage each other....

Sara

Being Restless

  I'm restless.

  At my day job.

  I have to go to this day job.  Every day.  So that I can make money to pay bills.

  However, my heart is with my "weekend" job - Photography- & with travel.

  Photography, the job that, so far this year, has not given me enough income to purchase an Ipad with.

  I feel this tug inside of me, this desire to drop it all and do what I love.  Photography & travel.

  But how can I? 

  I can't pay bills without money.  I can't travel without money.

  I pray for guidance, for an open door.  For a sign.  There is no response.  Yet that tug inside my soul is still there.

  Hope & faith are what I have right this moment.  And the promise to: "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psalms 37:4

Sara <3
 

Read the Bible til It's Dirty & It Will Make You Clean

  A few weeks ago, I got the news that a dear family friend had passed away without warning.  This lady was very special to myself and my family and I had known her since I was a little girl.

 Since my parents are very conservative in both thought and lifestyle, you could count on one hand the people that they felt comfortable leaving me with as a child.  This lady was one of those people. My parents knew that while I was at her house and with her family, I wouldn't be exposed to anything that they didn't approve of.  She is the only person that I can remember ever watching me while my parents went on dates.

  I attended a memorial service for her this past weekend and one of her daughters said that she remembered going into the kitchen as a little girl and seeing her mom's Bible lying on the table where she had just finished her devotions.  Then, her son said that the morning she was found passed away, there, beside her bed, stood her open Bible where she had read from it the night before.  The common thread was that she had her devotions daily. 

  Boy.  I can't begin to describe the feelings I had as I sat and heard that.  Just a few that I can put a name to were thankfulness for having known her, awe at how dedicated she was and over it all, conviction. If I passed away suddenly is that what someone would find beside my bed?  My open Bible?  I (shamefully) have to say, no. 

  This lady was sweet, caring, generous, loving, quick with laughter and praise and she constantly gave of herself and her possessions to help anyone and everyone that she came in contact with.

  That was not a result of her own doing.  It was a result of the time she spent reading her Bible daily. 

  Without a doubt, the Lord blessed her with those attributes above, however, without her consistency in the Word, I wonder how far the results of those attributes would have reached? 

  Person after person stood up to testify to how she had impacted their lives.  Two young men stood up and called her "mom" even though they were not her children by blood.

  The slideshow they showed at the memorial had a picture of the inside cover of her Bible.  On the page was written, "Read the Bible til it's dirty & it will make you clean." 

  This dear lady lived that.  And in doing so, she ministered and helped so many others.

  The beauty, grace and godliness I saw reflected in her life is challenging me to put God first, give Him more of myself and read His Word faithfully. 

  Proverbs 31:30 - Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

Sara <3


  

Trying Something New....Excited

 
  Right now my photography business focuses on families, couples, children (toddler to young teens) and women (beauty portraits, bridal portraits/trash the dress).  However, recently I have been wondering what it would be like to do boudoir (yes, I said it) photography.

  I’m not all into the “show your entire entire body” boudoir but the tasteful, classic, sophisticated, subtly sexy boudoir for married ladies only.  Wouldn't that be an incredibly sweet gift to give your husband?  I think that it would be.

  Tonight I will be meeting with a friend who (I think) is going to let me practice on her.....I say "I think" because I feel like I may still have some convincing to do. Although, either way there is no loss.  If she says no, I’ll try to convince someone else!  If no one will let me practice, then it’s a sign that it’s not meant to be!!

  I do want to give a disclaimer here too.  If I do begin offering boudoir photography, I won't be showing any of that work online.  It would be word of mouth referrals with private, in home consultations.

  So, if you have ever had a positive boudoir experience, or know of any good photographers whose boudoir photography I should check out, let me know!

Sara ♥

Adulthood Encroaches {Prayer Please}

  I won't go deeply into what's going on inside my head, however, I would just like to ask for prayer from anyone who reads this. 

  The last few months and especially the last week or so I have begun to really examine some things in my life, things that I've grown up with and have become accustomed to and dare I say comforted by. 

  So I just need prayer for wisdom, direction and strength in whatever path God has for me....

Sara <3