Picture Jumping

I have had the joy of taking lots of pictures lately. It always gets me so excited to take pictures and see smiles and images stopped in time like this :) I've continued to be swept away with the routine of life and watch as days melt into weeks. I wanted to do a blog post with pictures as an update but as I look through my pictures it is just a highlight of photo shoots that I've done here and there in the midst of working. I haven't taken a lot of around the house pictures lately of everyday life, I guess that can be my new challenge. So anyways, here is an update on  what I've been doing when I'm not at the bank. 

I spent last weekend working at Barakel for the Jack and Jill weekend where summer staff all come back and help change things over to get ready for winter camp. It was super nice to see everyone again!  I wasn't able to get any pictures due to working and running around in the dark.

I've been working on Colette's senior photos for a while now and I really enjoy taking pictures with this girl! She is gorgeous and fun and just pure fantastic!

 

Little Simon or "Do Da", as the twins call him, continues to grow and be such a sweet baby. I have so enjoyed taking pictures of him every month!

 

My buddy JD turned 4 this month, Tuesdays spent with him are always the bomb.com. I was remembering today back to when I first started watching him as a little guy, when I was still in high school and when he was just getting started on baby food! He is such a joyful boy and we all love having him here whenever we get the chance to have him come play :)

I had the privilege to take pictures of this energetic family a few weeks ago and I fondly remember that as the last warm day of this fall. Ever since then it has been gloomy and cold. My favorite places lately are in my bed with the blankets piled high, and right next to a heater. It is bad, hasn't even become winter yet and I am already geared up to hibernate! 

This cute little munchkin was at our house a couple weeks ago so I decided she needed to get some camera time. Such an adorable baby! Oh my word!

I had fun running around with the Fellers a few weekends ago and since they are so cute I figured I could take my camera along and persuade some of them to pose for me. Some were more willing than others ;) 

And the child. The naughty little child. She wanted school pictures like the "big kids". But when I tried to take them she freaked out and went all pouty and grouchy on me. I was so sad that even though she has been raised with a camera lens in her face she still pitched a fit. I was able to snap a few pictures that make it look like she was happily obeying my suggestions to pose. Truth be told she was only happy when she was doing exactly what SHE thought was right. How often we all act like that I'm sure!

  

And the last picture... a more candid shot. This was me trying to teach Xavier how to do a monkey face. Ben was clearly amused.

Those are the life highlights (picture jumping style) of what I've been up to.  I just realized that I spend a good amount of time with adorable little kids!! I really want to try to make it a point to get more pictures of life as it happens and get back to blogging more consistently. For now, peace out.

Tomorrow

Today is the first day of a new month. As I changed my calendar today, I looked at all 30 days of last month crossed off neatly with a red pen. I curiously glanced through the words written in each checked off box to see what I had accomplished in a month's time. "Wow," I thought to myself, "I did a lot of work, ooh a photo shoot there, more work... another fun photo shoot! Lots of work. I work a ton. Small group. Fun weekends. More work."  

I realized that I spend a lot of time thinking about tomorrow but I never actually get there. Tomorrow keeps becoming today and a new tomorrow is always popping up. It is already October with 30 tomorrows looming ahead. There are things to do each and every day and having a plan for the upcoming days and events isn't bad. But I don't want to get swept away with the thoughts of things that aren't here to deal with. I'm easily overwhelmed by the big picture, by the 31 perfect little uncrossed squares hanging on my wall, just waiting for me to put a red line through after a long day of work. When I change my calendar to November, will I look back and see my life in just getting through another 8 hour work day to get to the fun or at least less stressful weekends?  Will I realize that I once again spent most of my days looking forward to the next day, to tomorrow? Will I make it to October of 2014 and ask the same questions? I don't want life to just pass me by as I long for and yet dread the future. With all these thoughts in my head I opened up 'Jesus Calling' for the first time yesterday. 

I received the book this summer while counseling and was reading a different daily devotional at the time so I packed it away and forgot about it until the other day when a friend mentioned how much she was enjoying her copy. I saw it on my shelf and got curious. 

September 30 - Jesus Calling

" ...You need not fear the future, for I am already there... Your future is in My hands; I release it to you day by day, moment by moment. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. I want you to live this life abundantly, seeing all there is to see, doing all there is to do, Don't be distracted by future concerns. Leave them to Me! Each day of life is a glorious gift, but so few people now how to live within the confines of today. Much of their energy for abundant living is spills over the timeline into tomorrow's worries or past regrets. Their remaining energy is sufficient only for limping through the day, not for living it to the full."

 

Yeah, for real! That is what it was about! Such a good stop-me-in-my-path-and-turn-me-around moment! I want to live each day to the full and not just limp through it so I can cross it off or worrying about what tomorrow holds. Days go by fast enough as it is! 

So thats all I had to say. I guess it was kind of a life update, telling you all that yes indeed I am still alive. I just wanted to share this as a way of helping it stick more in my head. Live this day abundantly to the fullest! At work or school or play :)