This is me and my Gram. 
I love her so much.

Yes, she is my great-grandma. 
I hope one day she will be a great-great grandma. 

She turned ninety this year, still lives on her own, loves the library, walks every day, goes to church, volunteers…
she doesn’t lead a very slow life. She will even still send us birthday cards in the mail with $5 to get an ice cream. [Yes, she is darling]. 

She is a WWII veteran, has been a wife, mother, grandma, great-grandma and is probably one of the most loyal, steadfast souls I know. 
She truly shows me what it means to be there for her family… through very difficult situations. She isn’t perfect. She is simply real. 
When people would have told her to leave, she stayed and persevered and loved. The hard choice. 

Gram loves Jesus. 
I love praying with her. 

Sometimes, I will just call her out of the blue to talk and see how she is doing. 
Sometimes I have to remind her exactly who she is talking to because my voice sounds weird on the phone. *grin*
She calls me “Kristi, dearest” and “Darling” and “Sweetheart”… my heart does happy dances. 

This week I called her and left a happy voicemail. Three days later, she called me back.
I laugh and smile so much when talking with Gram. 
She says the funniest things…

“You know, darling, I never blame anything on my age!” 
*eyes twinkling*

We had so much fun together in England… being silly, laughing. 
We actually were kinda like two little girls at times… whispering secrets, making friends with all sorts of people, walking arm in arm,  
going on walks, taking naps, sharing fish and chips at the Eagle and Child, had our first cup of tea and first apple-something-that-was-amazing together.
We both love to dance… Gram was on the dance floor more than I was at the wedding. [But then again, I was the photographer]. 

I still am so in awe of the precious of the memories I will have with her in England of all places. 
Thank you, Jesus… it’s a gift my heart doesn’t even know how to express my thankfulness. 

This weekend we have another family wedding, no… not in England, in Tennessee. 
I can’t wait to hug, laugh, smile and dance with Gram again on Sunday.

-KM 

Fall, I love thee. 

I will sadly miss picking apples this year as the crops were not very good with the weather being a month ahead of schedule this year. Currently, I am craving a cup of foamy-wonderful apple cider, but a cup of Peppermint tea will have to do instead for the moment. There is something enchanting about Fall. I confess that I do enjoy Spring and Summer as well [Winter is simply winter, I love Christmastime and that is about it. I could even do with only one snow. Yes, truly.] but Fall has always captured my heart.

There is something about colors that take your breath away as your are driving down country roads… something about the vivid blue skies, the smell of the fresh-cool-fall-air… something about the sound of crunching leaves under your shoes and the sunshine on your face… something about the deliciousness of pumpkin, apple, spices and chili in a crockpot. 

Yes, I love fall. 

I’ve been thinking a lot recently. Having a lot of quiet time on my hands [long story, but currently in another waiting season] as I work on lots of editing, I’ve been having lots of thoughts, questions, prayers and wonderings. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said: “Don’t believe everything you think.” Um. yes… so true! Every thought that comes into my little mind is certainly not truth or fact. I’ve been reminded over and over how much I truly need the Gospel… daily. What do you think about? What consumes your thoughts and dreams?

Lately, my thoughts have been consumed with two things: Now and the Future. 
Now:: a job. a car. money. new computer hard-drive. questions. decisions. headaches. becoming well. projects. editing. 
Future:: a job. a car. money. photography. decisions. what-ifs. desires. responsibility. missions. my dark-chocolate-eyed-kiddos.

Intermixed between those two ever present thoughts are many thoughts about Jesus, the promises of Scripture, pondering new Truths, etc. 
Then, last week… it occurred to me: “Kristi, your thoughts are so consumed with the temporary and splashed with moments of Truth… what would happen if it flipped?”

All consumed with Jesus. 
All consumed with Truth. 
All consumed with the Eternal.
All consumed with the Kingdom. 
All consumed with serving others .
All consumed with making others successful. 
All consumed with becoming more like Jesus. 
All consumed with HIS complete faithfulness.

What if?

It sounds kinda impractical, doesn’t it? I used to think so. But I should know better by now. It is impractical, but that is because it isn’t world-like thinking… it is Kingdom living. Pretty much the opposite of what comes naturally. If your enemy strikes you… let him strike the other side. If your debtor owes you forgive him. If your enemy is hungry feed him. If you want to be greatest you must be the least. Paradoxes are the way of the Kingdom. 

So the question is raised… if I became all consumed with Jesus, how do I pay my bills, how would I find a job, what about the future, how will I know when and where and what?

The answer:: Jesus. 

He knows all. He is all. He will give all. He is always faithful, He has never failed. Think on that… He has NEVER failed… ever. The end. Period. His record is perfect. Spotless. That fact in mind, being consumed with Him, I surely wouldn’t be so tempted to worry, to fear or to dread what I cannot control, nor would I be likely to be so inward focused as to miss out on the joys, blessings and fruitfulness of the abundant life and easy yoke He promises. This doesn’t mean sitting around and waiting for Him to mail you a check to cover your bills. But it does mean to live in obedience… if He says “Be still and wait”, you had better listen. If He says go apply for jobs, go for it. If He simply says take things one day at a time… I will supply your needs, embrace it and live it to the fullest. Do the dishes for His glory. Smile and worship as you pray through the difficulties in your day. Choose to ask Him for guidance even as you drive and do things you are “completely able to do on your own”. 

Do life with Jesus. 

He will never leave nor forsake you. 
He will withhold no good thing from those who walk uprightly. 
He who clothes the lilies of the field will not leave His children in want. 
He who knows all things and owns the cattle on a thousand hills is My Heavenly Father. 
He will always, always be faithful.

Yes, I will choose to trust Jesus. 
I will do life with Him. 

“We have to be continually reminded what we believe.” [C.S. Lewis]

-KM

[Last weekend I went to an English Country Dance. Littlest brother was kind enough to capture me in my Jane Austen attire.
The dress was made by an adopted sister for my birthday several years ago. Isn't it lovely?] 

England… a country of castles and epic monuments. Rain and poetic fog. Tea and elegance. Rich history and traditions. 
Romance and England. They belong in the same sentence… kinda like roses and love. Music and dancing. Chocolate and happy.

England was where Jon and Hannah’s happily.ever.after began.

Hannah is my second cousin. But she’s always felt like a first cousin. When I heard she was getting married to her charming-wonderful-Englishman I thought: “I wonder if they are getting married in England… and who would be their photographer!!” Long story short, she DID get married in England and well, their photographer was a wanna-be-city girl who is currently living in the middle of cornfields in wonderful-mid-west Indiana. [Jesus gives good gifts to His children, just saying]. 

It was my joy and privilege to capture Jon and Hannah’s wedding day. [I am now an International Wedding Photographer... excuse me as I fall off my chair]. Not only did I get to capture their wedding day [which included being a coordinator, hairdresser, photographer and guest] in a Church that was built around the time Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses… I was able to experience “life of England” by spending a week with my “England family” and Burke family and soak in the sights and sounds and glimpses of our once Mother country. Everything from tea to fish and chips… sunshine and blue skies to rose gardens as you turned a corner of a brick walkway.

Ah, England. It was super fun, but also, being a photographer and looking back, there were a million pictures in my head I wished I would have or wished I had time to capture. Ah, the never ending ideas of a photographer. *grin* Always room to grow and improve. Always images in my heart to capture. I happen to love the ones I was able to capture… Jon and Hannah are completely photogenic. Seriously, I mean did you look at the mini-engagement-the-day-before-they-were-married-shoot? 

So yes, I left part of my heart in Banbury, England [most most of it is in South America still] and someday, I shall return. I hope. 

“If only the will to walk is there… He is pleased even with their stumbles.” [C.S. Lewis]

-KM

 

 

 

Happy October! Ah, fall I love thee!
[Excuse me while I dance with happiness at the arrival of the most perfect month in the calendar year. ♥]

There is something magical about the simplicity of black and white. 
Especially when they are images captured in romantic England. 

     

Long-happy-poetic-sigh…
See what I mean? More to come. 

“Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, 
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; 
let me find Thy light in my darkness…” [The Valley of Vision]

-KM

P.S. – Just added a few more… couldn’t resist.