Archive for 'Families'
On Motherhood
Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by maryanne.
In the past month I have sent two daughters away to far away countries. First, Annie to Africa for a mission trip, and now Katie to Spain to study abroad for three months.
It feels like my heart has been pulled from my body. Hmm, maybe pulled isn’t the right verb. What is the right verb? Maybe the verb you would use to describe when removing gum from your shoe, or Silly Putty from the carpet. Ripped. Yeah, that’s better. Webster describes ripped as “an act of tearing something forcibly.” Other synonyms are “tear, wrench, wrest, pull, snatch, tug, pry,heave, drag, peel, pluck; informal yank.” Yes, that is it. Ripped. I think you get it. The feeling is very physical, and unsolicited.
These are the passages that I have heard other mothers talk about. Letting your kids go, after years of, holding them close, buying prom dresses, listening to them and stroking their hair, crying with them, praying over them in their beds, reading to them at night, finger painting, baking and decorating cupcakes, wishing they would potty train already, helping them pull that first tooth, keeping fevers down, watching them sleep. Oh, it goes on and on, the things we mothers do, just because our hearts will not allow us to do anything else.
So odd to me, I don’t remember much about my life before I was a mother. I do remember I was one of those people. You know the ones who talk about other people who bring their kids into nice restaurants and let them fuss and cry. Can you believe it? I , at the ripe old age of 20, didn’t even have kids on my radar, much less in my plans. When my very new husband and I conceived, I was 21 and he was 25. We were clueless as to what was about to happen to us.
Then, it happened. I am not sure when it started. Maybe, it was at the beginning, when I went on a walk one night and I felt God spoke to me about her, that she was a she, and that she was mine, before I even bought a test kit. I ran home and wrote her a poem. Then I called my husband who was away on a trip. (he nearly fainted. We had only been married a month). Or maybe it was when she would get the hiccups during my pregnancy, and I instinctively placed my hand on my belly to comfort her. Maybe it was the vulnerability I felt mingled with fierce protection in the middle of the night.
I think it was most definitely the moment I first saw her black hair after hours of the worst pain I have ever known. Everything else in the room when into shadow as I saw that baby girl for the first time. Chris still likes to quote my first words before they even had her cleaned up, motioning his arms and mimicking me as he quotes me, ” Give me my baby!”. When they laid her on my chest, I was at peace, and I knew we were meant to be together.
A new vulnerability crept in though, as I realized I could no longer keep her safe in my womb. There was a whole world out there that could hurt her, make her sick, or worst of all, take her away. These feelings were very real. A good friend gave me a card at that time that said exactly how I felt. ” Having a child is like having your heart walk around outside your body”. Nothing could have expressed it better.
I realize now, that when I became a mom, God gave me some of His best qualities, and let me experience in the most intimate way a huge part of who He is. As a mom I could now relate to a God who is fiercely protective, tender beyond expression, and doesn’t mind giving up His best for His children. He stays with us through the night, listens to us, hurts for us and with us, and thankfully better than our earthly mothers, He is with us always and can heal us completely.
I would not trade this journey into motherhood for anything, even with all the pain I have known along the way, and for the pain I am experiencing now. In fact, I highly recommend it. As I close out this blog, I am reminded of one of my favorite scriptures from Isaiah.
“But Zion said, ‘ The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” ~ Isaiah 49 :14-16
Enjoy the photos from some of our most recent moments with our family and Katie girl.
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Boys will be… beautiful
Posted on 05. Dec, 2009 by maryanne.
Every year for some time now I have been going out to my good friends Keith and Kelly Anderson’s farm to photograph their beautiful boys. I love it. When you see the images below you will know why. They are so full of life, and we always have fun running around her farm from place to place laughing and giggling. I can’t help laughing listening to them talk to one another, drop right on the spot and wrestle in the mud, chase chickens, and sometimes, I get them feeling pensive. The youngest, Ethan, is an old soul. He is the most like his mommy, I think. I can usually catch him standing with his hands in his pockets thinking about something important, I am sure. He is a love bug too, and I could just squeeze and kiss him all day. The middle one, Jonathan, comes up with the most amazing things to say. When I told him I couldn’t go with them to see Santa that night, he quipped ” it is such a hateful world”. I laughed about that all the way home with my Johnny, who assisted me on the shoot. Their oldest, Jack, is so funny too. He also comes out with hilarious things that sound like they came from a twenty-something man. All of them, amazing, and adorable.
Their mom, Kelly, is one of my dearest friends. She is wonderful through and through. She is a veterinarian, and therefore an instant hero for me. I always wanted to be one when I was a kid, but lacked the chemistry grades in high school. She has both beauty and brains. You can’t beat it. There is always a potpourri of different animals and rescues at her place. She has a heart of gold and the animals always seem to find her. I am always at home there myself. It is a good place to be.
Enjoy the beautiful Anderson boys.~
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The Riley Family
Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by maryanne.
We had so much fun shooting the Riley Family last week when the Sugar Maples were at their glorious peak in the season. Looks like fairy princesses were at their peak as well, as we stumbled upon a beautiful one with a lolliop as twilight began to settle in. What a beautiful day for a family shoot. I think they will have some wonderful memories from this season in their lives together as a family when they look at these photos.
Thanks for trusting me with your magical memories, Riley Family. Much Love!
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The Simmons Girls
Posted on 15. Oct, 2009 by maryanne.
I love this family. They are near and dear to my heart. Craig is a fellow worship leader with my husband Chris at 12 stone Church and Kristin has served with me on the dance ministry for several years now. Chris and I have known them since they fell in love, and Chris even officiated their wedding. Riley came along very soon after, and then her sister Reese. Their family is like ours in so many ways! Riley and Reese are so unique from each other and yet both completely beautiful. So glad I got to spend time with them this week. My only regret is that I didn’t get Kristin in any shots, as she was hiding behind the scenes. Craig tried to hide, but we pushed him in for a few shots anyway. Enjoy the lovely Simmons girls.
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Last Year this Time
Posted on 10. Sep, 2009 by maryanne.
This is my sister’s family. Aren’t they lovely? As I was putting together a book for her today, I found myself wanting to blog these photos again. So much has changed since we took the time to photograph her beautiful and fun family. Her older two are now in colleges far away from home and her youngest is in his senior year. Things can change so quickly in such a short amount of time. I am so glad we took a lovely fall afternoon to capture them all together.
Aren’t they wonderful?
