A Session of Hope

I always feel butterflies in my stomach prior to any session. I often wonder if I'll ever get past that, but some sessions make me more nervous than others. This session in particular made me really nervous. I always want to give my customers portaits that they will love for a lifetime--portraits that will grab their heart. But this session in particular meant even more to me. See this customer came up from Mobile. They came up for the weekend just to get their daughter's portraits taken. That in itself made me nervous. I mean, to be honest, I'm thinking they are expecting a lot from this session if they are driving all the way up here with a two year old just to have her portraits taken. I feel certain there are plenty of capable photographers in their area, and yet they have made the effort to come up here. But there is more to the story...a lot more. I had met this family a couple of times through the years but have kept up with their life mainly through my sister-in-law and brother who are their very good friends. They have relayed this family's stories of excitement followed by dispair not once but twice with two precious babies. Reagan and Harrison are both now sitting at the feet of Jesus in Heaven but certainly not forgotten here on earth. At last Anna Katherine was born and the mother describes her as "the baby the Lord knew we needed to keep." Anna Katherine is two and on the go...literally! Energetic, friendly, and absolutely beautiful. Her blue eyes locked me in just before she threw her arms around me to hug me just minutes after she arrived at my house. God filled this little one with the life and love of her siblings that she'll never know here on earth. So, this session was more than just capturing Anna Katherine at age two. To me, it was capturing the love in this child's eyes because she holds the love of three children for her mom and dad. I wanted to portray portraits of hope, of love, of joy, joy, joy! Anna Katherine made it easy because hope, love and joy is who she is. What a session it was, and what a testimony this family is. Thank you for sharing your little bit of Heaven with me!