Haiti 2013

Hello Friends!
It's been an inexcusably long time since I've blogged!
I've had a crazy amazing 2013 so far!
I was blessed to spend two weeks in Haiti in Jan/Feb, followed by an amazing week of snowboarding in beautiful Colorado.
And since then I've moved to a new (old) house in a new town and started a new job.
Newness is so exciting! But unfortunately it leaves little time for blogging.

I have lots of photo shoots to post, but I wanted to share a few of my favorite images from Haiti with you.
We got to spend some time with the children at the mountain schools. Such preciousness!
When you don't have the convenience of language, the best way to communicate is with hugs and kisses. :)
I love looking into these sweet faces, holding little hands, cuddling little bodies in my lap.
And behind each of these faces there is a story.
We are often so caught up in the intricacies of our own stories that it takes great effort to step out of ourselves and truly pour into someone else's story.
I want the stream of my story flow and pour and mingle with the stories of others.
I want the ink of my pages to drip onto the pages of others.
Because when I touch these lives, even for a moment, I see the bigger story.
The Story we were made to be a part of.
And I want these children to experience the Story of love and sacrifice, grace and redemption that they were born to know.

just tracing life in my head | haiti documentary & mission photographer

as most of you know, i recently got back from spending two months in haiti. i have so many amazing stories about the people there and the huge ways i saw God work. after having my heart broken by the poverty and devastation i saw, being filled to overflowing by the love given and received, having my body humbled by malaria, being snatched from the brink of death by the hand of God, i came home so full of thoughts and questions and emotions and lessons to dwell on. So instead of sharing a story or a portrait shoot i just feel like sharing what my heart is dwelling on right now. the following is an entry from my journal written shortly after my return.

"people tell me i'm different.

am i?

i want to be.

every day i want my soul-person to be different.

bigger.

stronger.

wiser.

what changed me?

was it the giving?

the receiving?

was it You there beside me?

how i revel in the knowledge that You are actively interested in my life.

changing, moving, shaping.

woven into me.

that You LOVE me!

and that You are doing the very same in every person i meet.

each of us You are wooing.

with Your sunsets and Your mountains, Your stars and oceans.

with Your needles and hospital beds and heartbreaks and funerals.

You are stretching our souls.

pulling, widening, bursting.

until they grow so big and full of You and aching for more that they push right out of their bodies and fly to You.

how beautiful You are."