My thank you to YOU.

So the cliche saying goes "When it rains it pours."

I don't understand why all of a sudden, but my inbox has been flooded this week with one thank you email after another. And it's not just from clients. It's from perfect strangers who follow my blog, stumbled across my blog, or something about my blog touched their hearts enough to reach out and write and say thank you for simply being me.

My heart has been completely taken back. I so don't feel worthy. I've never wanted it to be about me. From day 1 of starting this blog, I've prayed that it would be about using the creative gifts God has given me to serve others for His kingdom for His glory. I've been reading a book lately with Stephen called "Crazy Love." And that's exactly it. I'm crazy in love with Jesus (and Stephen, he he) and I can't help but want to share my heart with you about Him. Isn't that how it's suppose to be when you're truly in love? You want to shout it from the rooftops and tell the world!

Yes, I paused for a second in the beginning of my career and questioned "Should I combine business and faith?" But then the question turned to "My faith is the most important thing to me, how can I NOT talk about it?" I realized I would rather fail being upfront about my love for God than succeed hiding that fact. I was no longer working for anyone else, I was now working for myself. It was my name on the logo and I was setting new rules to always be real with you, be true to who I am, and always give thanks to those who have helped me on my own journey.

So I want to say thank you in return to you. Not only thank you for reading my blog and looking at my work and following my story... but thank you for accepting me exactly as I am. Flaws and all. Dorkiness and all. Valley moments and all. I'll be the first to admit I'm not perfect and I mess up all the time doing things I wish I could take back (thank you JESUS for Your grace!). And I'm certainly not the best photographer in the world. But I shoot from my heart and get the privilege to meet amazing people who let me into their lives to document their most cherished day.

Also, thank you for those who believe in encouraging others rather than tearing them down. Whew, the stories I could tell you of things that I choose not to blog about. And the comments I've had to delete from mean people who enjoy TRYING to hurt a perfect stranger. I just don't get mean people. And I don't get why if I rub them the wrong way, why do they spend time on my blog in the first place? Especially the cowards who hide behind an Anonymous name. Though it stings, I always know that my God is bigger than any mean comment. And like I heard Jessica Simpson say once about the tabloids "For every mean critic, I have 20,000 other people in my corner!" Amen!

So for those who filled my inbox this week with your encouraging out of the blue emails, thank YOU for making my day. It always wows me how God orchestrates paths to cross and lives to intersect on this journey of life.

(((Virtual hug to everyone!)))

Here's a shot my bride Teresa sent me that I snapped on her disposal camera at the reception! (It was originally my thank you to her, but now I'm also directly it to you!)