Emma's Perfect Day!

Come, spirit, to live in this Beautiful Home.

Come with friendship, with wisdom, understanding, energy and passion

Burn always in my Soul.

You are welcome here.

                        I remember you.  ~ anonymous 

Emma is turning Sweet Sixteen this month!

When my lens met Emma it liked her from the start . . . It was

 A Perfect Day!  

Sixteen years old seems like a life time ago when I think back.  Lots of things have changed since I was sixteen.

If we wanted to talk to our friends we would call them on the telephone or walk to their home and knock on the door or just walk in if they were really, really, really, good friends!

 Texting, facebook, emailing have made the personal connection . . . less personal.                 

That is one thing I miss.  

Well Emma,  my advice to you as you turn sixteen this month . . . 

Keep it Real.  

Take time for your parents, they gave you life.  

Share your things and your time with those less fortunate, 

and make time for the art of real conversation.  

There is nothing better.

 Oh Happy Day to you Miss Emma

Oh Happy 16th Birthday to you!

May 12th . . . Not an Ordinary Day

"Why is any day better than another, when all the daylight in the year is from the sun?      By the Lord's decision they were distinguished, and he appointed the different seasons and feasts;  some of them he exalted and hallowed, and some of them he made ordinary days."    ~ Ecclesiasticus 33: 7-9

In the lives of Ani & Ian May 12th will always be a sacramental celebration of the union between this beautiful couple.  The twelfth of May was the beginning of a covenant between families . . . a bond, a celebration of love.

I was privileged to be the photographer to capture this union.  Ani is the virtue grace in motion.  Ian is devotion and it can be seen on his countenance. 

As the Nineteenth-Century Shaker Hymn  reminds us . . . 

'Tis a gift to be simple,

'Tis a gift to be free,

'Tis a gift to come down

Where we ought to be

And when we find ourselves

In the place that's right

'Twill be in the valley

Of love and delight.

St. Mary Magdalen                Abbeville, Louisiana

An Epiphany of Sorts . . . UL with Matt Maher & Audrey Assad

Matt Maher, Janenne, & Audrey Assad

Audrey singing "Restless"

There are times in your life that seem to be thresholds that you are walking through.  This week I experienced two of them; epiphanies if you will.  God showing off in a good way! I was asked to give a talk on Happiness to UL Wisdom students.  I titled it . . . "Happiness Revealed".
 A kindred spirit emailed me a phenomenal TED talk titled "Gratitude" which spurred the thought of what I wanted to talk about.   Interesting . . . two days later I was approached to give a talk on Happiness.  And so I did.  I ended my discussion with the Ted Talk .  It was a great night filled with college students.  Who could ask for a better crowd to engage with!

The other was to photograph two musicians who are high on my list when I think of talent and ability to reach into the hearts of man and transform them thru song.   Matt Maher and Audrey Assad have the ability to do just that.  Audrey has a new album coming out on Feb 14 . . . Valentine's Day.   She sang one that had me wanting more!  If her album is anything like the one track she sang it will be well worth the investment.     Hats off to UL for bringing them in.   I was on cloud 9 walking backstage to document the event.  I'm always amazed & grateful where He allows me to go.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  Gratitude makes sense of our past,  brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."  
 ~ Melody Beattie