Today
we
just
wanted
to
let
you
know
that
we have a bit of traveling and photo jobs lined up in the next few months. Weeeee. Please message us at jonolaynie@gmail.com if you want to book a session with us-we'd love to work with you and document your beauty. Wink.
(We do mini and full sessions for lifestyle, family, boudoir, themed, anniversary and engagement portraits...pretty much anything you can think of.) Hope to see you on the other side of our lens.
xoo.
I felt particularly challenged last year by a friend who said she had determined to live generously no matter what. Even if she was never thanked, even if she was taken advantage of, even if no one ever saw. She chose generosity as a core value of her life, bottom line.
I ponder this often.
At the blackest spaces of my soul I am selfish, I am weak, I choose myself and my demands before anyone and anything else.
But what would my life and relationships look like if I fully and consistently committed to my proclaimed core values, the principles of this Jesus I claim to follow?
...to be loyal to and champion my friends no matter what (they do or don’t do in return).
...to love, serve and care for Jonathan before myself no matter what (he does or doesn’t do to deserve it).
...to only speak kindly of others no matter what (they have done to hurt me).
...to work hard, without complaints, and with excellence no matter what (even when I’m just plain tired).
...to live generously no matter what (even when we feel the tightness of our own budget).
...to choose positivity no matter what (even when the day has been black).
...to choose love and forgiveness no matter what (even for those who stab us in the back).
...to choose the higher road no matter what (even though it hurts like hell, hell, hell).
To be honest, I love the music of these words, the idea of these virtues woven into my everyday, the beauty of such grace. But the reality of this is just plain hard. This I know.
But I am committed to trying, to carving these tenets upon my heart and letting them bleed throughout my life.
I saw this sign the other day while I was walking through the small town of Winona Lake, Indiana-
...to accept friendship is to accept the vow to give it.
...to accept love is to accept the vow to give it.
...to accept grace is to accept the vow to give it.
Freely you have received, freely give.
Alright then- let's get going.