When my first two girls were born I went to the photo studio in Walmart to get family pictures like a "good mother" should. I started the baby books with pictures and notes, and the life happened to me as it does to all of us. My babies grew and demanded more and more time, and the world changed around me like the local chain studio closing leaving me at a loss for how I was going to get more family photos to fill those books. Those little studio rooms with big names were the only photo options I had known growing up and as a single income family they were the only thing we could afford too.

 

  "But I need pictures of the babies," I fussed to my husband. So we got a cheep point and shoot digital camera to fulfil the roll and off I went to document the growth of my little ones!

 

 Now I'll admit the pictures back then weren't all that good... between not knowing what I was doing and a camera that couldn't do what I wanted it to I had a lot to figure out. But I was blissfully unaware of my lack of knowledge and happy just to keep experimenting with how to get the best pictures of my little girls and share them with my near and distant family members.

 

  Time passed quickly. Two little girls became four and then it was time to get a new camera. Perhaps the most amusing part of this story is that it was my husband that wanted to upgrade to the DSLR with its fancy lenses for his hobby, and I was a little bit scared of it at first! That didn't last long though; the difference in pictures it could take was night and day, and I was hooked. I began to devour any lesson I could on how to use the new camera and I soon realized I had something in my hands I wanted to use for more than just me.

 

  Watching my youngest two pour over the old and almost forgotten baby books and delighting in the printed images, my heart yearned to have been able to have books like that for them too. Not only that, but my desires reached further to wanting to offer to other mothers a chance to capture a few moments in print so they wouldn't have to miss out as well. So I started my business and tried to price myself in a way that anyone could afford it.

 

  Did it work? Maybe... Did I work more than I should have for the price? Oh heck yes! But I learned a lot along the way and felt like I was maybe doing some good too.

 

  Then Covid hit and man did that change a lot... once the noise from that died down I found myself carried five years down the road and three family members lighter. Sure it wasn't all covid, but the chaos and pain all blended together one after the other until I could finally get my head above water again. Take a look around... see where the world was at.

 

  My girls have grown up so much in those five years. They are turning into young women, going through awkward fazes and acne. They've seen how cruel the world can be and how quickly life moves on without them. They understand the impact a person can make on another life but not their importance in their own.

 

  I want to show them how beautiful they are turning out to be. I see their awkward teens, their grumpy days, and their stubborn refusal to slow down. But I also the grace that wants to be, the kindness waiting to happen, and the beauty behind the blemishes. I want to show them what I see. I want to build up their self-esteem in a world so set on tearing it down. I want to remind them they are fearfully and wonderfully made. I want them to feel worth remembering!

 

  I want to do that for you too. I want you to see that you are beautiful as God made you, you are worth the time we'll take. That regardless of what else is going on in the world you are worth remembering.