i am learning that nothing...NO thing is wasted, accidental, coincidence, or happenstance.....god is showing me just how big he is and how he has everything under {his} control and he is working it all out for my good and his glory. there are so many things that happen each day that i know he has sent to me or for me. it is my job to pay attention and see what he is saying and what he wants me to do with it. just today....i met a friend for coffee at our neighborhood starbucks. i had saved up my calories, money and caffeine intake to partake in a yummy pumpkin spice latte. it was good ;) while there we were sharing where we were in life. we were both struggling with some of the fall out from divorce and men who choose another life than the one they had. we weren't 'ex' bashing and we weren't angry...just telling it like it is.....there was this lady and a teen aged boy sitting next to us...and we are kinda in close quarters there.....as she got up, she asked if she could say some thing....we said sure....she said i hope i am not being rude or anything but that she overheard us talking and wanted to speak to us....she told her son to go to the car...ok...at that moment, i thought 'oh boy...we are fixing to get raked for something we said....' she said 'i heard you say that you were trusting god with child support and i heard you say that you were praying for your hurting children.....(again, I thought she was not happy with what her son had heard, maybe?)...then she said...i am going through a divorce and i would like to ask you to pray for me.' i was shocked. that anyone would think that i would have anything to offer someone who is in such pain.....

and then god spoke to my heart....he said...i didn't bring you to this place for your enjoyment. yes, you thought so. and you made room in your calendar for not only your friend and you, but this broken hearted woman. i have opportunities all over the place for you like this...i just need you to pay attention....and listen......

i speak to you through every situation and every person you come in contact with.

of course we prayed for her! and we exchanged information and i am praying that there is more interaction.

as my sweet hubby likes to say.....you have mail for me and i have mail for you....its up to us to open the letters and see what He is saying to us in them.

when i first took this wedding, i had another one in the wings. both were for friends, both i had given my 'friend deal' too :). one, though had to fly us to him and provide our room and board. so, that was the fee, basically. i wanted to be at both and do both, but both were for the same day and 1,000 miles apart. there were underlying commitments to the one that was long distance, so i needed to take that one and let the other one go....which meant no cash in hand. I had been basically unemployed for 3 months now and the money would have been very much needed. time to trust god. he knew what we needed and it might just be some time away. these were also very new friends to me. so, on to Reno and lake tahoe i go.....

when i shoot a wedding (or ANYthing for that matter), my heart is ALL in. I LOVE taking pictures and capturing those moments. i know i am not the best out there and it is a constant struggle to not compare myself against all those who have more training or a different gifting than i~constant!!! AND it is training for me to do what god has called me to do.

i went ready to shoot my heart out....the venue was beautiful--a river boat on the lake. the food was yummy, the weather perfect...you could not ask for a better day....the family was excited and it was a fun time.

my plane left the next morning, so i had to be up and ready to go. i got a call from the grooms mom (a precious, PRECIOUS woman of God) to come and have breakfast with her and her family. i did. And as i was leaving, she handed me a card~a thank you note (i assumed)....i got in the car, rushing to catch my flight and I opened the card to read. inside was a check in the EXACT amount i would have made had i done the other wedding. she had NO IDEA that is how much i charged my friends....none.....it was such a God thing and such a confirmation to me that i had made the right choice. not that i would not want to be there for my other friend, but i had to walk in what god was saying and trust god to provide for that friend too. to see some of the pictures from that wedding click here.

linked up with chatting at the sky and sweet shot tuesday

you've got mail.....

2 weddings and a miracle