For me, negative space in a photo evokes a feeling of freedom. It’s an invitation for my imagination to create possible stories and behind the image. Wide open skies or snow-covered fields that go on for miles, a sun setting into the sea spreading reds and blues across the horizon, plains of grass dancing as the wind runs through.  Photos that capture the quality of space pull my thoughts into a peaceful place where I can be still. My eyes move in the direction of the small details of the photo, wondering what they’re thinking, what their next move will be, where they’re headed.

I wonder what negative space in our lives would look like. I wonder what creating more space would do for the dreams and passions I have. I wonder if getting rid of the clutter and being content with stillness would bring more clarity to the things I really want to pursue. Negative space makes me wonder…

She was nothing less than light and energy on our trip through Thailand. She was fearless in trying spicy food, and was up for an adventure any time of the day or night. She let everyone else eat all the peanut butter for breakfast, and was never upset when there was only rice and vegetables to eat in the villages. She loves people relentlessly and, to this day, whenever I see the word “gentleness”, I think of her. I admire her ability to see the world through wonder-filled eyes and the science nerd in me loves that she always wants to know what plants are called and where they come from. Jasmin won my heart the second I met her and I was ECSTATIC when she emailed me saying she’s coming to visit. On this trip, she brought her fiance, Michael… who has pretty much won my heart over just as fast as she did. His humor is “hammer” (the bomb), his rock band style is SO COOL, and his love for Jasmin is enough for me to say, “awwwwwww.”  Together, they’re ADORABLE, and I had such a great day shooting their engagement photos with my partner in crime, Betsy Lackey. There are so many I wish to share with you, but here are just a handful of my favorites…

Michael and Jasmin, I feel so lucky to call you friends and I’m so grateful you made the long trek out here from Germany to visit. Your hearts for God inspire me and your fierce love for each other and for those around you challenge me to love differently. May he richly bless you and your upcoming marriage…  Ich liebe dich! <3

There’s something in the depths of my soul that craves rain. I’m not talking about  a slight mist, but a real big storm that blows torrents of rain into my closed window… the kind of rain that clears my rain gutters of all the dirt and dead leaves that have accumulated.  Falling asleep in my warm dry bed to the sound of downpour outside is one of my most favorite things in the world. And once it’s rained enough, once the skies have satisfied their fury, a glimpse of sun peeks through the clouds and lights up the darkness. It slowly grows brighter until the light reflecting off all the world is more brilliant than I can bear. All the water begins to fly through the air like smoke, going back up to where it came from…. until all is new again. This is why I like rain.

Today was the day after the rain… and it was GORGEOUS. Blue skies, clean green grass, and the smell of rain on asphalt. So good! I got to spend some time with a dear friend today and shoot some portraits for her new book and album…. Here’s a sneak peek of my portrait shoot with Junko….

Today I’d like to share something I wrote in May of 2008. It’s something I wrote at the start of a project I was working on in the wake of my adventures in YWAM…. a book of compiled pictures, thoughts, and prayers. The project is still in JUST the starting phase because I set it on the back burner when I began building my business that summer…. but it still tugs on my heart everyday and I wanted to share it with you.

“Yada’—to know by experience. The Hebrews used this word to describe how a man knows his wife after they consummate their marriage vows on their wedding night. Intimate. Exposed. And this kind of knowledge is only gained through experience; no amount of hypothesizing or imagination can substitute. I think out of all the many characters in the Bible, more specifically the Old Testament, Moses was the one person who had something even remotely like this kind of knowledge when it came to his relationship with God. Exodus 33 tells us “As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend (Ex. 33: 9-11)”. I want that. How amazing would that be to have such a relationship with God…face…to…face. I wouldn’t have to feel like these heroes of faith in the bible were products of then, and I, here in the modern context of things, am somehow too different and too insignificant to house the capacity to have such a knowledge of what God can be like. Just because Moses and David were one in a million, doesn’t mean I can’t be. Who knows…maybe they’re the only ones who had courage enough to entertain the thought that they were wired for something bigger than themselves and that this God of their ancestors was actually more real than they could comprehend.

I am, by no means, a Moses or a David. I am not even close. But I refuse to think that just because I live in America in California in Orange County in Irvine in a two story house with a car and a family and a pool that I can’t be a Moses or a David. I reject the notion that I can’t hear His voice because there are so many other things vying for my attention. I reject the notion that I can’t move with the Holy Spirit because only holy people like Pastors and monks know how to do that. And I reject the idea that I can’t be used in such a way, that centuries from now, people will refer to me as a woman who met face to face with the living God. In the name of Jesus Christ.

I recently read these words: “we all believe in God’s power to change the world through others; we just struggle to believe in His power to do it through us” (Pete Grieg, The Vow). So true. I think it’s a difficult thing to wrap our minds around because we grow up reading these amazing Bible stories about how God parts the Red sea and Jesus raises from the dead and the apostles performed miracles, and yet we don’t put two and two together that it was reality. We can learn the theology of what we believe, we can study the life and teachings of Jesus, and we can read all the books we want on the subject, but there’s something to be said about the phrase “you’d have to be there.” I do have to be there, or at least, I prefer to be there.

So, This is my journey, of sorts, learning from being “there”….and “here”, that I can be used to change the world…and from these lessons, experiencing Yada’.”

The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I’m about to embark on a seriously AWESOME trip…. following the footsteps of my man Moses. On March 9th, I will be flying out of Los Angeles with a group of 50 people from Horizon Christian Fellowship, and we’ll touch down in the place where it all started… Cairo, Egypt. From there we’ll be visiting pyramids, the sphinx,  St. Catherine’s Monastery (the place rumored to have been the site of the burning bush), The Red Sea, Petra, and through the ancient land of Moab to Mt. Nebo. We’ll also be spending the 2nd part of the trip tracing the footsteps of Jesus in his last days. We’ll be visiting the Mount of Olives, Garden of Gesthemane, the house of Caiaphas, the wailing wall and the rabbinical tunnels. And the last part of our adventure will take us to Bethlehem, then the Garden Tomb, and a few other historical sites.

I find it amazingly curious how this whole trip has been orchestrated… I’m in awe of this opportunity that’s been presented… and I’m STOKED to have this chance to use what God’s given me to experience such an amazing part of the world!

This isn’t just a trip I’m going on. I want you to come with me! My job on this trip is to be the photojournalist, documenting what I see and feel and the places we experience. It’s also to keep a blog as we go so you can experience these amazing places with us! Make sure to check back here as we take off on March 9th…  and experience the Middle East in the Footsteps of this man who knew the living God… face to face.

My hope is that this trip will bolster our faith and change the way we read the scriptures…. that we might draw closer to the heart of the living God and experience Yada’.