Sometimes I feel like we live double lives. One part wedding photographers, one part working with college students. And when those two things merge, it’s a really beautiful thing. (at least I think it is :]) I love getting to take elements of both of my worlds and combine them into something even better.

I’ve been wanting to do a small photo project inspired by my friend Glorianne’s project for quite sometime now. She had a small group of women write words on their faces and she took photos of them. Empowering them and allowing them to feel beautiful. I fell in love with the idea and have been holding onto it for years now. For our college ministry with CRU, we have women’s and men’s events every few weeks. And for our last women’s time of the year, I got to put my plan into action! And it was all I could’ve wanted it to be and more.

At the beginning of our time I got to share about my heart for God’s redemption plan. I love the idea of redemption…that what has been lost could be regained. It’s so beautiful to me. And so encouraging. Reconciliation, Restoration. Rescue. All these beautiful words that essentially mean that it is not too late. God is not finished with us. What was once broken can be put back together again. I explained to the women that we all have experienced that redemption in different ways. The way I grew up and the brokenness I experienced in my life means I see the Gospel in a really beautiful way. I see my time before coming to know Jesus and can be so thankful and can feel the depths of what He’s saved me from. I see the redeeming work He’s done in my life and it just floors me. I know that I know that I have been changed by God because I don’t recognize myself anymore. I see the way He’s brought friends and even my sister to come to know Him and I SO cling to the fact that He is powerful and sovereign.

And they see Jesus in that special way too. Because of what they’ve experienced, there is something about the Gospel that is so special to them and means so much more to them. We all see the scriptures and the Gospel through different eyes and the sweet part is that when we come together, we see God more clearly. We make a more complete version of the Gospel when we see through each other’s eyes in addition to our own.

And that’s where the paint came in. The girls painted these words that meant so much to them on their bodies. Words like chosen, enough, free, loved, wanted, lovely, pursued, daughter, valued, precious, His, whole, forgiven, strong, restored, and redeemed. It was a beautiful thing to be a part of. 

We took portraits together and they are all so beautiful.

Ollie walked around and skinned his knees and pointed at trains like the little boy he is and it was an extra bonus to a lovely evening.