40 days.....Day 1....."Who is your CEO?"

Thanks to Scarlett Lillian and her willingness and devotion to create "Prosper", I begin a 40 day prayer journey. This journey is not only for me, but it's also for my business, my clients, and most importantly my God. I have never been scared or ashamed of who I am and what I believe in. I am a proud believer in Jesus Christ and I love Him passionately and deeply. If you have ever come into contact with me before, I pray that my actions and my mouth have been a tool to bring you closer to God. I also pray that when I haven't done so, that you please forgive me, because Lord knows I am not perfect.

We are asked the question "Who is the CEO of your company?" and all I want to do is laugh and say, "I am a stay-at-home-mommy with a small little home office, not some big company. Why on earth would I need a CEO?" But then I realize that no matter the size of the business, someone is in charge. Someone is the leader. Someone makes all the decisions and guides the future. And since I am a single employed company...I guess that's me then right? The answer is yes, but not with out wisdom and understanding from God. He is the one who whispers encouragements to my soul that say, "Daughter, you are so gifted."

Many times in the past couple of months I have really thought about selling all of my equipment and ending my photography career. Our personal finances have been extremely tight and I knew I was sitting on something that could help solve some debt issues. So, I looked into how much money everything I owned would be worth and after seeing the dollar signs, I seriously contemplated getting rid of it all. Then late one night, I sat at my computer and looked at pictures of my own 5-year-old daughter. The pictures were the recent ones I took of her dancing in the field in my back yard during the beautiful yummy sunset that was blogged with the movie Courageous. I began to cry. Sometimes I get so caught up in the emailing, Facebook messaging, blogging, editing, and shooting that I forget that what I do is a talent and a gift given to me by God. And just like a composer writes a beautiful symphony, I too have been trained in an art. What I do is breathtaking! I couldn't imagine not being able to capture moments like these for myself, let alone for others. If I sold my equipment, I wouldn't even be able to hold on to special moments like this one even for myself.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold treasure. This shows that the great power is from God, not from us." I read this and thought, I have a treasure from God and yes I am a clay jar just holding it inside. Could I possibly not share that treasure since He is the one who gave this very gift to me? The whole reason I originally got into photography was simply because my husband bought me a camera to take pictures of my own children. I had no hidden agenda or plan to ever own a company in it. I believe that God showed me that this is something I could do that would bring glory to Him. I believe that He opened doors and made things happen for me that I would never have been able to do on my own.

My prayer today is that I continue to allow Him to guide me and show me the next step. I am lost right now. I struggle with the next step. I have always said that this was a temporary thing because I am working on my educational degree. I work alongside my husband as a youth and children's pastor and campus minister. I absolutely love working with students. However, balancing 6 children, a full time photography business, my education, and ministry can be exhausting at times. Especially because I am a perfectionist and want to succeed 150% in everything I do. My prayer is that God truly is the leader of my business. I say that He is, but do I really allow Him to be? I need Him to show me His path. I need Him to make it so boldly clear that it knocks me over like a hurricane, because I am stubborn and distracted and I don't listen well.

If you are reading this, thank you. My prayer for you is that you will love me through this time. That you will pray for me too. God is more powerful and more amazing than we could possibly ever know. Ruth 1:16 states "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." Lord I will go where ever you want me to go. I will stay where ever you want me to stay. I will serve where ever you need me to serve. You are my God.

in His Love,
Jamie

All of me....

All of me
By: Matt Hammitt (From Sanctus Real)

Afraid to love
Something that could break
Could I move on
If you were torn away?
And I'm so close to what I can't control
I can't give you half my heart
And pray He makes you whole

You're gonna have all of me
You're gonna have all of me
'Cause you're worth every falling tear
You're worth facing any fear
You're gonna know all my love
Even if it's not enough
Enough to mend our broken hearts
But giving you all of me is where I'll start

I won't let sadness steal you from my arms
I won't let pain keep you from my heart
I'll trade the fear of all that I could lose
For every moment I share with you

Heaven brought you to this moment, it's too wonderful to speak
You're worth all of me, you're worth all of me
So let me recklessly love you, even if I bleed
You're worth all of me, you're worth all of me

Courageous...The Dance Remembered

****MOVIE SPOILER***** If you haven't seen this movie yet, this YouTube clip has a beautiful scene from the movie in it. Don't watch it if you don't want to see it yet or you don't like movies spoiled for you. Instead...go rent it for a buck at Redbox and call it a date night!





"When you are ready to dance....this is what you do.
First you put your right hand around my waist like this.
Then you put your other hand out like this.
Then you sway back and forth to the music."




Those of you who know me, know that my children are the most important thing in life to me. I have 6 incredibly beautiful children and all of them are equally special to me in their own way. I hold no favorites and I try to give each of them their own opportunities to grow and be themselves, whatever that may be. However, after watching this movie, my heart was sickened with the thought of ever loosing one of them, especially my daughter Addison.

If you haven't watched the movie Courageous, I am going to tease you a bit with a portion of the storyline. The main character's daughter dies suddenly in a car crash on the ride home from school one day with one of her friends. The daughter is 9 and just a bundle of joy. The scene first plays out that the dad and the daughter pull up to park outside a building to wait on his friend. The daughter's favorite song comes on the radio and she begs her daddy to turn the song up and come dance with her. He refuses, fearing that he might look like a fool or be embarrassed. She proceeds to dance alone, as she teaches him how to dance while he sits and watches from his truck. The daughter dances in the sunlight with this beautiful smile that just penetrates any parents soul.

Fast-forward to the end of the movie. The clip I have included in this blog is from the end of the movie. The dad has lost his daughter, and realizes that the moments he had with her, he took for granted. No matter how big or small in life, we must never look past spending time with our children in the small moments. The dad comes back to the same area as before and dances his portion, alone, in the sunlight remembering her words....her face....her beauty.

This little girl from the movie reminds me of my Addison. My daughter is only 5, but has the same heart and spirit as the character from the movie. Addison dances for the Lord with such joy and passion. She has child-like faith that could move mountains. Her smile lights up an entire room. After I saw this scene in the movie, my mothers love met my photographers heart. My daughter was playing in our back yard this evening and the sun began to set. I ran in and grabbed my camera and told her to just dance and be herself. I couldn't imagine ever loosing her. My heart would literally break into pieces.

I learned from this movie that we shouldn't settle for just being "good" or "ok" parents, but rather that we could be more! God has called us to be more! Our children deserve more of us...more of our quality time...more of our leadership...more of our love. And when my daughter asks me to dance with her...I will not sit back and watch...I will dance with all of my heart and soak of every moment with her.

Jeremiah 24:15 "As for me and my house....we will serve the Lord"

The Greens: Rebeccah & Chad

The lovely Green couple held their ceremony and reception at the beautiful Ocean Breeze Conference Center located on Jacksonville's Mayport Naval base. It just happened to overlook Jacksonville Beach. There were several military honored throughout the evening who were both in uniform and out, so it made the night even more special by seeing so many proud soldiers present. Stunning wedding decor, food, and service coordinated and provided by Adair Currie with Your Wedding Weekender as well as the Ocean Breeze Conference Center. Thank you again to Bella Blue Photography for allowing me the opportunity to come and second shoot for your wedding! Always a pleasure working with other photographers! Here's a brief look at my shots for the evening!

Brittany & Aaron's Wedding

Nothing makes me happier than taking photographs of people in love, other than, taking photographs of the people I love who are in love! Brittany and I worked as an awesome dynamic duo for FSCJ's Campus Voice Newspaper. Through many late nights and long hours of editing oh and lots of line dancing, Brittany and I became extremely close friends. I remember one day she sent me a text asking me, "How did you know that your husband was 'THE ONE" for you to be with?" That's when I knew that she was head over heels for Aaron. At that time, I didn't know Aaron all that well, so I started drilling her with questions. Slowly but surely, this conversation headed down the path of understanding their relationship and being absolutely excited about their love.

Brittany was one of those brides you just love! She is an art major, so she has an extreme eye for detail. So for me and my camera, we fell in love with every single one of her efforts. Her proud husband spoke to me before the ceremony began, "Doesn't everything look great? She did everything herself!" As you can see, Brittany didn't miss a thing. Their ceremony was intimately held on their family property under a huge oak tree. The ceremony began with the couple to remove their shoes to imitate standing on holy ground as stated in the Old Testament of the Bible.

The couple held the reception under a beautiful large white tent with all their family and friends. Chick-Fil-A is Aaron (and I believe now Brittany's) favorite place to eat. They catered the meal. There was also a candy table set up for guest to make their own sweet treats. Brittany and Aaron both are avid rock wall climbers so their cake had a groom and bride climbing up the side of several rocks. Perfect for these two! Guests were given mason jars to drink their sweet tea tea from and to take as party favors.

I hope you enjoy the sneak peek from their big day!

-Aaron and Brittany-
I love you both and I pray that God is blessing your marriage greatly! I am so thankful that you chose me to be a part of your big day. Congratulations to you both!

Shooting with Bella Blue Photography

Wow! So I realize it has been a really really long time since I blogged. It was fun reading back through all the old posts and seeing how much my photography skills have grown in a year.

This past weekend I was privileged to shoot a wedding with the lovely Bella Blue Photography. The ceremony and reception were held at the Hilliard Mansion located in Hilliard, Florida. It is the perfect venue for an outdoor ceremony, but only if the weather is graciously in your favor. When I pulled up the sky was black and the rain was pouring down. I sat in my car debating with myself on whether to unload or to stay hidden until it all passed. Once arriving to the house I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the inside of the mansion actually was. Thanks goodness because the rain showed no signs of letting up....until about 10 minutes before the ceremony was supposed to begin! Since I was second shooting, I hung with the groom and groomsmen prior to the ceremony. I have learned that the guys have it so much easier than the girls when it comes to getting ready on the wedding day. Brooke, the bride, had planned such cute details that I hope to add here soon. Their colors were a ocean blue and silver. Perfect for this garden wedding.

I loved being able to assist another photographer and have fun while doing so. It also helped that this couple was absolutely adorable!!! I look forward to helping their company again in the future! Enjoy my little peek at their big day!