Light, Love, Hope

Sometimes we can have the best of intentions, and yet we still fail miserably.  We don’t set out to hurt anyone’s feelings or make anyone angry, but that is the end result, unfortunately.  Today that happened, and it left me feeling horrible.  My daughter’s wedding is in just a few days, and we want everything to be absolutely perfect for her special day.  It’s a day little girls dream of their entire life.  Twirling around in princess dresses, wearing plastic tiaras and fake glass slippers, one can only imagine Prince Charming coming to sweep you off your feet just like in the movies.

And they lived happily ever after …

At some point after the honeymoon phase has ended, you will want to look back on your wedding day to re-live each moment! That is when good quality pictures are going to be so appreciated.  Your wedding should not be left in the hands of an amateur, but instead, a seasoned professional would be better suited for such an occasion.  They will know the perfect angle and snap amazing shots of the bride and groom smiling and having the time of their lives together.

This was the basis behind my intention today when I commented about a photographer my daughter trusted for her bridal portraits.  Here we are two and a half weeks AFTER her bridal portrait session without a professional picture to have enlarged to display at her reception.  One picture was sent, heavily filtered and edited to the point that the green grass appeared … dead and lifeless in the pictures!!  Much to my horror, too, because I worked tirelessly for months upon months getting my yard to look amazing with plush green grass and flowers popping everywhere.  Imagine my shock when the edits took away from the beautiful surroundings!  I commented, not realizing I was hurting my daughter’s feelings in the process.  It was no reflection of her at all, but the editing style of this photographer.  Honestly, when I saw the engagement shots, I had no idea of what the surroundings looked like at the location they chose at that point so it really didn’t occur to me to notice the faded, washed out look that I later learned is this photographer’s “style.”  My daughter and her fiancé got engaged in November of last year, and I just assumed the surroundings in those pictures were due to the change of the seasons.  Going from Fall into Winter, one would not expect to see vibrant green, so I didn’t think anything of it.

Until now.

I’m sure there are a ton of people that love the editing style this photographer chose, but I am a fan of more traditional pictures without all the heavy editing.  People can take it to the extreme, and I’m sure their intentions are pure as well.  The pictures can either turn out faded, as these have, or they can appear overly edited to the point that they take a muddy brown looking lake and turn it into a beach paradise as if you have been swept away to a tropical island somewhere with blue water.  I honestly detest the heavy editing because it gives unrealistic expectations.  I have actually been to a few of the places pictured and edited to this extreme only to be devastated and disappointed in the surroundings not looking anything like the pictures I had seen previously!  A more nature look in pictures is needed and desired, so you see the true beauty of your subject, not some heavy editing or filters used to turn something into what it truly is not.  In this case, it was the appearance of dead grass that turned me off immediately.  You see, I had taken pictures myself that very day, and I had a “real” picture to compare the heavily edited picture to, so it really screamed at me when I saw it.  Again, it’s no reflection on my daughter at all.  But she took it personally, even though my intention was not to make her feel bad about her choice of photographer.

Oh boy, Mom!  Now what?

Days before the wedding, and you’re insulting the photographer’s editing style!  Yep!

ONLY because I want my daughter to have excellent QUALITY pictures to reflect back on in years from now.  The editing style might be “in” right now and “trending,” but in years from now when the pictures typically DO fade from age … what will they be left with?  That is all I kept thinking.  If the images and backgrounds, their surroundings and objects in the pictures already look faded and washed out, it only gets worse as time goes on!

Ah … but there is a backup plan brewing!  Mom always has a Plan B!

While we won’t have another “professional” photographer present at the wedding, there will be a lot of pictures being taken by others.  We have a dear family friend on “video” duty that day, and he will also be snapping some quality pictures of his own throughout the ceremony and reception.  Thank GOD for good friends with lots of TALENT, too!!

Now it’s the best of both worlds.  My daughter has her photographer, and I have mine!  ~grin~

Oh I’ve seen the work of this gentleman through the years, and he most definitely has an eye for photography.  I am trusting him to capture the moments of the happy couple with a twinkle in their eyes and beaming smiles on their lips.  THAT is what I look forward to seeing – in living, vibrant color!!

What about the missing professional bridal portraits?  Again … Mom always has a Plan B in that regard as well!  Those pictures I snapped the day of the bridal portrait session ended up saving the day!  Literally.  I took my pictures and had a 16×20 collage made for her special day, and I have a 8×10 for her bridal portrait to display at the reception!  I was very pleased with the way they turned out, too, on the canvas and am excited to have them on display for all to see.  Oh my “little girl” makes a beautiful bride, for sure!!  So all was not lost, after all.  My daughter WILL have her bridal portrait after all!

Nice “save,” Mom!!

At the end of the day, my intention is to have amazing wedding pictures for my daughter to one day show her very own children.  I imagine she will want to reminisce with them, just as I have with my own two daughters about my wedding day.  Long after the day is over, I want those memories sealed forever in good quality photography to be shared for generations to come!

My intentions are true, honest, and pure.  I only want the best for my daughter – on her wedding day – and throughout life!

In the still quiet, do you allow your thoughts to run wild?  Or do you take that opportunity to talk to God?

Do you sink back into your favorite plush lazy chair, kick your feet up and take advantage of the quiet time to relax?  Or do you stay so busy that you do not allow yourself any down time?

All of these questions are definitely something to consider.  If thoughts are running through your mind consuming you, and they are negative in nature, that leads to potential problems of stewing over situations where people have “done you wrong.”  Does this bring you joy doing this or change the outcome of the situation?  Surely neither one of these, so why allow something like this to zap your energy and take up space in your head?  When negative thoughts try to creep into your quiet space, take that opportunity right then and talk to God about it.  God is the only one that can make peace in those quiet moments you have alone with your thoughts.  Turn it over to Him, and watch Him work wonders in your life over these hurtful situations you’ve endured.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking advantage of some leisure time to relax and rejuvenate your body and soul.  However, if you stay so busy running from here or there, ask yourself what you are running from with all of your busyness.  Perhaps it IS your quiet thoughts you’re trying to silence so they don’t consume you.  Again, take it to God and leave it at His feet.

It’s now 20 years later.  Do you still remember what happened on September 11, 2001?  Have you forgotten what you vowed never to forget?

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

I was driving down the road delivering a bid for my employer when the news came over the radio.  It was as if everything started moving in slow motion as I heard the announcement.  I called my fiancé to see if he heard anything because maybe, just maybe the voice on the radio was mistaken.  Much to my horror, I listened as the second tower was struck and up in flames.

It WAS the day the world stopped turning due to violence, terrorism, and an attack on the United States of America!

Twenty years later, we might have flashbacks of that day, or we might have to educate the young ones of the significance of this day.  Maybe they learned about it in history class, or maybe they saw the look on their parent’s or grandparent’s faces as they re-lived the moment.

Now 20 years later, we’re dealing with emotions after President Biden pulled out of Afghanistan leaving a lot of our military equipment behind.  We fear there will be another attack on the United States, some even fearing it would be today with the nation in mourning once again.  Others feel it would be too predictable, though.

One thing is for sure, we all need prayer.  The families and friends are still mourning the loss of their loved ones from the attack on this day, and although it has been 20 years, the hurt is no less felt than the day it all happened.  At this time in 2001, I was dealing with the loss of my sister in July, only to have this act of terrorism occur two months and two days later.  What a devastating time for our family and for our nation. We felt some comfort from those that rallied around us and others in their state of mourning, for our personal loss and the loss that shook the United States of America.  One thing these tragedies had in common is they brought out the compassionate and caring nature of others.   These tragedies allowed for more love to be shown, and this entire world needs more love!

Today, the world is more divided than ever.  With controversy on both sides regarding the vaccines – whether to take it for the preventative nature it is intended for or whether it’s a conspiracy from the government – we are bickering and fighting each other over our individual beliefs.  Race is also still a hot topic – with racism on both sides.

What if we brought back the love from 20 years ago?  The compassion that was felt back then needs to be resurrected today.  There needs to be more caring individuals and less fighting amongst each other.  United we stand … divided we fall!  Don’t we remember that, too?!

As the nation remembers, let us be the change we wish to see in the world …