Ruben-9 Months!

It's always fun to do portraits of someone other than your kids. My poor kids are going to hate me until the day they move out of the house. They will probably never purchase their own camera because I will have overused mine on them so much. Or maybe they will just be grateful that sometime when they are getting ready to get married, they can sit on the couch with their future spouses and look at the bazillion photos that I took of them. Either way, this train ain't slowin' down!

Today, I did get to photograph someone other than my own. Little Ruben is only 5 days older than Emi and his mother is on staff with Mike and I. His father is one of the Haitian pastors that work here in the Dominican. Together, they made a pretty adorable baby. We just did a little mini shoot (only about 15 minutes long) and he didn't exactly want to cooperate and give me smiles but we got a few. And man can he light up a room. Cute thing. Enjoy!

Photo of the Week-8/3-8/10

as we were closing our time at the river on saturday, one of the leader's of the college group from eastview christian church asked if there was anyone feeling prompted to be baptized. the spirit was moving.

one by one, young men and women began to step forward. twenty of them to be exact.

as they were being baptized i began snapping away, feeling like i was getting a front row seat to something so intimate. watching people be baptized is so incredibly moving. i didn't get a chance to get to know many of the kids on this trip throughout the week but as i sat there photographing this monumental moment in their lives it was as if they were sharing their stories with me.

about halfway through, this young man and young woman walk up. they were obviously a couple. as he began speaking it completely moved me. i began crying (as i feel seems to be a theme these days).

his words were so simple. he said their relationship before had been "dead and dirty" and because of god's saving grace and abounding mercy, they were standing there that day in the river, new creations. when they got down in the river he began to speak to her. too quiet for any of us to hear but as i took their photos you could see her face change. you could see how much she adored him and how grateful she was that she had a boyfriend that truly desired to be a man after god's heart. she trusted him. and as he submerged her in the river and she came up for her first breath...celebration. cheering and clapping rang through that place. an example of transformation and new creation.

Photo of the Week-7/27-8/3

although i feel like i'm running behind in all of my work, i actually wasn't running behind on posting the photo of the week for this week. it has just taken me a week to really figure out what it was about this one vbs that got to me.

i remember driving over to los guandules, i did not want to be going. i had a ton of stuff to do and i thought i had lined up someone else to help me photograph the vbs but it fell through. angry. frustrated. irritated. those would be the words to describe my mood walking up the steps to the church. not exactly the words i would want to describe my mood, ever.

as i reached the top of the stairs a cloud was completely lifted from me. i left the world of darkness and moodiness and entered the world where happy children play. to describe what i saw in words is nearly impossible to do. but words are all i've got. there was music playing, there were children laughing and there was dancing...oh yes, there was dancing. there was hand holding, and leg kicking, and booty shaking.

the light trickled in the windows of the church just right as to caress the little faces that were beaming with smiles. not like the kind of smiles with lips pursed and corners turned up...but the kind of smiles i dream of seeing here. squinty-eyed, cheeks gathered, teeth bearing, smiles.

as i'm typing these words now, a little chill runs up my neck and my eyes well up with water. it was that indescribable.

i literally kept my camera plastered to my face, not so much as to capture every moment of this incredible scene, but to keep people from noticing the tears streaming down my face. i've never really felt the holy spirit, in the moment, and known it was the holy spirit. but in that moment it was as if the holy spirit was standing next to me, speaking to me, whispering in my ear.

about two weeks ago, i started reading a book called, "90 minutes in heaven." it's not necessarily a book that i would recommend to everyone i meet. and honestly, the book itself wasn't all that impressive. but what was impressive was the man's account of heaven. i almost feel like god wanted me to read the book only to have the background of what heaven will be like so that when i walked into the church at los guandules that afternoon, i could feel just a little of what heaven will be. i feel i've come to understand that heaven's dancing and singing will be on a much grander scale but let me tell you...if it's only twice as grand as that afternoon, i'm ready to go now.