2 Beautiful Women & 1 little Girl

So I got the privilege to go and take pictures of 2 beautiful women 

and 1 adorable baby in the last couple of months.

The first one is an amazing young lady

Haley Giboney.

She is a graduating senior that is devoted to her Savior and wherever He calls her.

The second young woman is

Michelle Tuell.

She is going to be playing 13 hours a day for 6 days a week in The Academy.

The adorable baby is my niece,

Annabelle Marie.

She got two Easter dresses from her Grandma and Great Grandma,

and well...photos are needed right???

After each photo sessions I was just amazed at 2 things,

One at how BEAUTIFUL each girl is!

And Two just how much I can honor my God through picture taking!

I get to spend time in His creation while taking the photos

and then lots of time with Him while

I edit the photos!
Here are some selected photos from the 3 shoots:

trust Him in the shadow of His wings

ok...

so at this present moment i feel like i relate to job, not in his extreme but extreme enough for me.

i can see a pretty "obvious" reason why God is taking things from me and

why He is asking me to do very uncomfortable things,

He wants me to grow.

buttttttttt....

(that's me being annoyed)

did you know that as soon as 1 of the 3 messengers was done reporting the damages of one area in job's life another would come in and tell him another area that was just lost!

that just blows soup!

before all of the poop that happened in his life satan had come to God and he didn't ask

God if he could mess with job...GOD offered him the chance to do so.

when i read this it didn't hit to hard...

i just took it as "yeah God will do that every now and then",

well guess what???

satan came a second time!

and ya know what God did???

yep you guessed it, He offered job again!

this whole concept started to REALLY sink in...i mean REALLY sink in deep!

sunday i was challenged by my heros/ "mentors"with the concept of

the purpose of life.

well that's easy "to love and know my God and bring Him all the glory!"

does it ever once mention my happiness?

...nope.

sounds jacked right...

nope.

i have "known" this for several years, and now God's giving me the opportunity to

really trust Him on a even deeper level.

it's like as soon as you get trusting Him with all in your life He takes you to another level of trust.

i know it is worth it and i will RUN and STRIVE after that, 

but i am gonna be honest with you...

it HURTS...

i have not once hurt this bad in my entire life

....not once, till now.

but

but...

if this pain brings God glory in the end...

well then it's worth it, 

worth every tear i have cried and heartache i have felt in this time of my life.

this is the hope i cling so desperately to right now

...i certainly do not "feel" it yet, but i will not stop, till there is no breath left in these lungs i will strive.

...i am in LOVE with GOD.

He holds my life in His hands and i give Him that control,

to do what He wills with my future.

"Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?"Job talking to his wife in chapter 2

"Remember that my life is but a breath." Job speaking to his "friend" in chapter 7

"Your hands shaped me and formed me. Will You now turn around and destroy me? Please remember that You formed me like clay. Will You now return me to dust?" chapter 10 Job responding to a "friend's" comment

it says in chapter 1 in the 2nd sentence of Job that: "he was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil."
soooo... he didn't do anything wrong/deserve the "punishment" he was receiving,
not saying that I have not done anything wrong...
but when things start to "fall apart" in my life, i ask "What was I doing wrong?"
yeah...this has definitely gone through my mind almost everyday for the past 4 weeks.

it is a daily and almost hourly battle that i have to fight.
the lie- "that i need to fix things
in my life as  a result of something that has gone "wrong"...i must have failed somewhere."
but that is not always the reasoning for things to "fall apart".
God is faithful-this doesn't mean He always brings happiness......
i have prayed that He would refine me through the flames for the past 2 years...
He's answering that prayer, again.

to God be ALL the Glory!

A WILD Heart

So recently I have been asked out by God. That's right you read it correctly, for several years now He has been getting to know me and teaching me about myself. Now it's time for it to go the other way :) For the last three weeks I have gone on a date with Him at least once. Also in that time I have read Wild at Heart by John Eldridge.
WOW...that's the only word I can use to describe it. I first learned A LOT about men in general and how they think but...they have those characteristics because God has them!!! Women are the same way just with different characteristics! That's just amazing to me, I NEVER realized that!
So back to my recent date with God, I got up at 4:15 am so that I could go out to my FAVORITE place in the world which is little over an hour away from my dorm. I was headed out and I kinda had a feeling that the road would be closed but I was gonna try anyways.
Well....I got out about 30min into the woods and guessss what!?! The road was closed after the dumb Arboretum...
O let me tell you I got mad! I think partially because of the early morning and then I was upset at God for not "providing". Really...Really Ginny you are upset because God didn't provide a way all the way out....
I don't know about you but when I am on a date with a guy and it doesn't go directly to the planned events of the night I don't freak out and say "You are not providing for me!" Stupid :D It's more of an adventure when that happens and I LOVE it!
I changed my the way I was thinking pretty darn quick and apologized. I looked out the window and saw a bizillion stars! It was BEAUTIFUL! I sat there for a bit with my lights and engine off admiring the beauty of God's creation!
.....Slowly at first and then VERY VERY rapidly a FEAR that grips your heart with sinking claws overtook me. What was it? O that's right you're out in the middle of no where Ginny...ALONE...in the WILDERNESS!
Quickly the lights were on and I was heading out of that fores no time to think about my decision.

Men's hearts are WILD...do you get that...WILD. I thought I got it but not till I was out in the dark, alone, in the "unruly" world, and fearing to even be in my own car alone did I get it. You're probably a little confused... Let me try and explain. It goes with what I was saying just a little bit earlier, that the reason why men are "wild" and crave to be in the wild is because it is the same with God. His heart is mysterious and wild. So when I was out there God was speaking to my heart and I could apply the wildness to understanding men better... but was I not on a date with God and not a man? : D Well God was whispering to me to stay a little longer in His heart even though it was scary and wild. He asked me to explore His wild heart for just a bit longer and that it wouldn't be to scary if I trusted Him. Well let me tell you after a couple hundred pictures (244 to be exact), a sunrise, and nap in my jeep...I think I understand a very small amount more about God's WILD heart.
Men I respect you more, Women I encourage you to say yes to God when He asks you to go on a date and explore His wild side that we too often do not get.

These pictures are of how the morning sunrise happened. I played with a couple of the pictures to make them swirl a little. I got to go to three different areas so basically... really fun! I was chasing the sunrise : D

Where I've Stood

Okay... so each and every picture has a story to it and why I think it is significant to why God has put me in the places that He has!
Some I will tell the stories too and some well if you really wanna come ask me ;)

This one has lots to it but the main thing is learning to trust God even when it seems like all is falling around you and you cannot see your footing.
"You will be safe in His arms"-Phil Wickham

God Has put me in FLAGSTAFF!!! I don't have enough rm to talk about this one :D

This one and the one is of my most FAVORITE place in the ENTIRE world... I can't explain it in words except it invokes a since of adventure and wildness that God Himself is that is so attractive to me, almost addicting!!!

God has made me an artist...in several ways...I learn so much about Him when we have dates together and I get to create in His presence.

God Has put me in foreign nations and I have had the blessing to discover His HUGE heart for the nations. That He has blessed me with being born in the USA and I will use that blessing to shout His name to those who do not know Him!

God has put me in very Humbling experiences. I felt on top of the world when I left for Indonesia, when I got there just learning the culture and language...wow I felt as if I was a baby learning to walk and talk I knew ABSOLUTELY nothing... : ) Being humbled in a healthy way is one of the most AWESOME experiences!

One of the best quiet time spots...
in a tower...
overlooking a city of Indonesia : )

This top and bottom one is an experience that REALLY opened my eyes to the heart of God, getting to see places that were not even in the worst areas of poverty but enough to get my attention on the issues of 3rd world countries.

FINALLY the one that started it all!!!
Taken in Pine Top Arizona...
In the midst of learning how to REALLY trust the Almighty with EVERYTHING...
EVERYTHING people...
I got my visa to leave the country 4 hours before I left....
you get where I am coming from...
: D then to be in a culture I knew diddly squat
He really pulled me to my limits but it was the best feeling ever
and I strive to do that even here in the states.