The feeling that comes with hearing something that you need to hear at the exact moment that it needs to be heard is one that I will never get tired of feeling.
Words have such a power to heal and to remind us that we are not alone in our feelings. These words by Kelle Hampton are especially fitting for today.
I needed to hear them again.
“The pain was still there, taking up a big part of my heart, but it was time for Pain to get a roommate. It wasn’t happy about sharing a room, but Pain is never really happy. When Change came through the door that day, moving Pain’s belongings to the side, conforming it to only half of my heart’s space, it brought with it a new perspective. Change starts small - a bit shy at first. But slowly Change does great things. Change renovates new spaces and places into something beautiful. And that’s just something Pain was going to have to deal with.”
Change starts small - a bit shy at first.
But slowly Change does great things.
A lot has changed. I am grateful.
If you haven’t read Kelle’s book yet, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Bloom. Each page is like a lazy afternoon in October in front of the fireplace - so cozy that you never wanna leave. Or maybe that’s just me and my idea of bliss. Read her book anyway.
Ashley Apple
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I don’t want to be someone that glorifies busy. I want to be someone that does the things that I love, regardless of how busy life can be.
And can I just say how much I love meeting new people and photographing them. I love getting to capture them just as they are and get a glimpse into their lives for a few hours.
I love these photos and how much fun we had while taking them. I am so glad that we did these.
My friend and photographer, Bethani Montgomery, photographed the lovely miss Ashley Apple. Yep. Her last name really is that awesome.
These pictures have been sitting on my desktop for too long.
Please take a few minutes and look at Bethani’s work over on her website here. I hope you become as in love with her photos as I already am!
I would love to take your picture! If you are interested in shooting with me, please contact me for more information on scheduling and prices at toverton2011@yahoo.com :)
“People need to be encouraged. People need to be reminded of how wonderful they are. People need to be believed in—told that they are brave and smart and capable of accomplishing all the dreams they dream and more. Remind each other of this.”
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”
These are a few of my favorite things
Being done with finals.
Meeting someone and feeling as if we’ve already known each other for years. I love the rarity of those moments.
Reflecting on life.
Eating a spoon full of cookie butter. Peanut butter, you’ve officially been replaced. Sorry I’m not really sorry.
Listening to the Great Gatsby soundtrack over and over and over and pretending that I have Emeli Sandé’s voice.
Driving with my windows down.
Getting big hugs from little kids for no reason at all. Just because hugs are the best kind of hugs.
Email and wi-fi. Those are amazing when your best friend is on the other side of the world for a month.
The stack of books that I have been waiting to read.
Speaking of Gatsby, this quote is also one of my favorites.
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” - F. S. Fitzgerald
The Rodriguez and Anguiano Family
These are the Rodriguez’s and the Anguiano’s. Stephanie and Juan’s little boy, Luis, is a ball of energy and is so sweet. He also has some pretty awesome grandparents :) I loved photographing this beautiful family that is just full of love!
My two favorites. Luis wouldn’t stop making this face, so of course everyone had to get in on the fun :)
I would love to take your picture! If you are interested in shooting with me, please contact me for more information on scheduling and prices at toverton2011@yahoo.com :)
“A great way to learn about your country is to leave it.”
How I need You
Do you ever have those nights where you are trying to fall asleep, but your brain just keeps thinking? And you’re trying so hard to think about nothing, but all of these thoughts keep running through your mind? That’s where I’m at right now. And really, I over exaggerated just a little bit. I don’t have a ton of thoughts running through my head, just a few lyrics.
Lord, I need You
Oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense
My righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
And I’ve spent the last half hour being frustrated that I’m still awake, instead of finding rest in God. Even in things as minute as falling asleep, I need Him and His reminders that today is done and tomorrow is a new day.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I think I need to get this verse tattoed on my forehead. Seriously.
It’s so easy, so routine to think about each thing on my to do list: go here at this time, call so and so for this reason, pay this, buy this, read that, etc. and get caught up in life’s obligations. But really, they aren’t obligations. I don’t have to do them. I choose to. Don’t get me wrong - I love my life and everyone in it, but the way that I spend my time is a choice. It’s what I want to do.
And if I’m being honest, choosing God over all of my “wants” is hard sometimes. Choosing to spend time with God can be inconvenient. And if I’m being really honest, feelings of inconvenience or hardship have an underlying message that I’m focused on me instead of God.
Which is completely backwards and wrong. God never said that choosing Him would be easy, but in my short time of knowing God, I can honestly say that choosing Him is worth it. And choosing to follow Jesus means that it’s not about me anymore. It’s about Him and what He is doing through me.
Whenever I find myself struggling with choosing God, I think of a metaphor that a friend of mine once told me. “Your relationship with God is like brushing your teeth. Some days, you brush, floss, use mouthwash. You might be a two-a-day brusher, but sometimes that’s hard to do and you only have time for a quick brushing. But each day, you brush your teeth.”
Regardless of how many things are on my to-do list, or whatever other circumstance I am in, I always brush my teeth. Like who would want to be around someone with stank morning breath?! Obviously nobody. Gross!
Brushing my teeth is a habit.
I want to choose God as habitually as I brush my teeth.
I want to choose God when it’s hard, not only when it’s easy.
I want to choose God regardless of anything on my to-do list.
I want to choose God because of who He is.
Although I am embarrassed to admit that I struggle with always choosing God, I am grateful for His grace that is always bigger than my struggles. I am grateful that I can find rest in His word and remember His promises that He’s not done with me yet. Most of all, I am grateful for God’s love, which has changed me in ways that I will never understand.
Oh God, how I need You
These are a few of my favorite things.
Perfect weather spring days. That means weather that’s in the high 60’s/low 70’s.
The Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign. This speaks truth - people are beautiful. You are beautiful. But a truth that I think might be even more worth hearing: you are so much more than beautiful.
Realizing how desperately I need Jesus every day. Greater is He that is in me.
Neutrogena Acne Face Scrub. My skin is crazy sensitive, so normally it’s pretty difficult to find anything that will actually work without burning and or itching. Basically this is amazeballs and you should try it. I sometimes think that if my skin could talk, it would be whispering, “Thank you,” every time that I use this product. Too much? Moving on…
Nannying. I really, really, really do love my job.
Getting the privilege to watch people live out their dreams and celebrating the opportunities that come along with that.
Talking with people who make me say, “Really? You do that, too?! I thought I was the only one!” I think underneath it all, people really are more alike than we are different.
Reading a book that someone else already read and loved and passed along to me. The art of borrowing is sacred and awesome.
The Chrismakkuh episode of The O.C. This favorite thing is a 2 for 1 special, because it also includes the one and only Seth Cohen.
Lint rollers. I also like to call them “life savers.”
