DADDY
happy birthday, daddy! goodness, i love you. my life is better because you are in it. you are one of the kindest people i know. those aren't just words from a loving daughter though. everyone who comes in contact with you sees your kind spirit. i see so much of grandma gracie in you.
thank you for last saturday. i know it didn't end like we wanted, but you did everything you possibly could to make my first bedlam game fun. i will treasure that day for a long time. even our complete dissection of everything wrong with OU football at the moment on the drive home. they should just hire you as a coach. you've taught me everything there is to know about the game. i cherish our father/daughter football saturdays.
but beyond football - you've taught me what it means to be a follower of Jesus. what it means to be a friend. what it means to be kind and extend grace. thank you for being the best daddy a girl could ever ask for. i love you so much!
FLEETING
this life is fleeting and precious. so often i take it for granted. i let my emotions and feelings dictate my actions and thoughts. i let meaningless things matter. i give weight to things that have no value. i abuse time like it's never-ending. and then tragedy strikes.
i received the tragic new on monday afternoon that a friend and her four-year-old daughter tynlee were killed in a car accident. it happened just a few miles from my house. i even saw the ambulance driving by as i was getting ready that morning. megan leaves behind a young daughter. it is so heartbreaking. i still cannot wrap my head around it. i suppose death is never easy though. grief is an uninvited, intrusive enemy. and this time of the year seems like the cruelest of days to lose a loved one. please pray for megan's family, her daughter, and for tynlee's dad.
INSTAGRAM + COMMUNITY
instagram is my favorite social media platform. as a photographer, that visual inspiration fuels my creativity. i am constantly inspired and encouraged by the unique perspectives of other ladies and fellas who capture the beauty in this world. i recently made it a goal to be more open and intentional with my words and images. that might sound a little strange, but for a few months, i battled this weird dilemma: lots of my facebook friends follow me on insta. people i know in 'real life'. high school classmates, people i see on a daily basis, and family members. being vulnerable on this photo app was too risky. what if those people thought i was weird?
then i stumbled across the 'fridayintroductions' hashtag. i saw the openness of other ladies and decided that vulnerability wasn't a risk - living a life full of concern for others' opinions was too risky. i joined the hashtag and never looked back. [see a few of my #fridayintroductions instagrams here, here, and here.]
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