They say….a picture is worth a thousand words. It’s one thing to say it, but its a whole other thing to actually see it with your eyes.
This past Wednesday night, the congregation of our church witnessed something very…..special, random, surprising, and hopeful. Something our church has never done before. Really, I’m not sure how many other churches have actually done this.
A man got baptized who had been through some very tough times in his life. And then, there was a surprise live wedding to show what it looks like to be joined to Christ. The man that gave his life to the Lord, yes he was also getting married tonight! The incredible thing is that this couple was willing to get married on a Wednesday night in front of the whole church, to show us an example of what it means to be joined to Christ like we are joined to each other in marriage. The Lord is the bridegroom, He is the groom and His church is the bride. It was a great service…You can watch this sermon here. However, I don’t believe the baptism is actually shown in this video.
The Lord says ‘Abide in Me and you can bear much fruit, apart from me, you can do nothing.’ And we are left with hope in the Lord.
These photos were taken in preparation for next years City of Ridgeland, MS municipal races. Wes Hamlin is currently in ward 6 for the City and will be re-running next year for the same position. When he was first elected 3 years ago, he became the youngest elected alderman in the City of Ridgeland’s history, only 27 years old at the time. He’ll be accepting an award for this achievement in November of this year. Congratulations, Wes!
An alderman is another term for a city councilman. Alongside the mayor, they preside over the workings of the city by planning the budget, overseeing city ordinances, dealing with legal matters, hiring new staff, and making decisions for the city.
Each alderman serves a four year term and reruns at the end of that four years. The next election is in May of 2013 where Wes hopes to be re-elected.
Wes and I went to middle school together, so we had a great time catching up with life, discussing how blessed we are, and laughing about our young and carefree days in school. And he likes to laugh at my cool knitting skills. He’s jealous, I’m pretty sure of it.
This photoshoot marks a very special occasion, Lucas turned 1 year old, and the family wanted to capture the moments of such a special and precious gift from the Lord. It was a perfect spring day for the photo shoot and Lucas was in perfect spirits and showed the beauty a child can possess.
Darsey, Lucas’ big sister, was also there to help get the little guy to give us his heart melting smile and for a little fun time with him as well. I always felt unbelievably blessed to be able to capture this wonderfully made family and to see how they function with so much love and compassion.
Here are a few pictures from the shoot:
If there’s one thing you know about me, you know that I love being around my family…this includes cousins, etc. Each year my family in Hattiesburg, MS holds a Greek family cookout and we all look forward to it….anxiously waiting for it to come around each year.
Our favorite Greek foods are always present….to include Pastichio (pasta dish), Fasolakia Yachni (green beans made perfect) and Tiropita (cheese pies)! And pacing ourselves during the meal is a necessity because I’m telling ya, Greeks can cook!!!
Each year we have a photoshoot. They just know its coming. Its become a tradition now and we enjoy collecting these memories of all the fun we have together.
Lia, how much do I love you, girl?! You never cease to keep us rolling.
April, you are simply gorgeous. I’m gonna be the one standing by the door with the shotgun. haha! I’m not skeeerd!
And Zoe, you are stunning. And you have such a sweet spirit that you carry with you, always. And can we please talk about how smart this girl is?? And those eyes….
And there was an intense game of tennis….
Lia, you’re so fierce…I can’t even handle it!
Light is what takes a photo from good to great, so we are always in search of good light 
Happy Friday!
Early last week I turned the big ’3-0′. Thats a big number, especially since I would never see my twenties again! ;) And turning 30 was a hard concept to wrap my head around. But as it approached, I spent quality time reflecting over just how blessed I really am. The Lord has blessed me with the best family and friends that any girl could ever ask for, truly. My family and friends are kind, loving, caring people and I enjoy every minute of being in their presence. I’m thankful for their constant encouragement and love. And laughing is never out of sight….in fact, its constant and it makes life a lot more fun and light. I’m also particularly thankful that I have a total sense of security in who I am and my self-worth. God is good to me.
Below: Our church group, Pinelake Church, ate at Soulshine pizza after Wednesday night church to celebrate my birthday, along with Lisa Womack’s birthday! Our sweet friend, Laurie, bought us each a cookie cake to celebrate.
On Friday night, some of my closest friends gathered to enjoy a nice pasta or pizza dinner at Sal & Mookies in Jackson, MS – Fondren area. These girls below mean the world to me and I value their lasting friendships!
Leigh Ann (top pic-right), Abby (below pic-left) and Jen (below pic-right) have been long time friends of mine and I’m so thankful they were able to come celebrate, as we get older, together. 
And this pasta dinner……delish!!
Laughter = an inward expression of joy.
Matthew and Abby, I’m so glad I hooked ya’ll up many years ago while going bowling.
A special thanks to Jessica Sawyer for taking so many of these pictures, above.
My family traveled to Oxford, MS on my birthday to visit my brother, Jason, and his ‘soon-to-be’ better part, Renae. Jason’s roomate and friend, Andrew was also able to join us for dinner, which made us happy!
Dinner at Ole Venice (pasta & pizza)….are we seeing a trend here? My fave….
And once again, theres never a shortage of laughter around my family. Or party hats. I love love love them.
Thank you all for one of my best birthdays, yet. And heres to many more happy memories to come!
And to those of you that have told me, ‘ oh you don’t look a day over 17′…..whether you are joking or serious, I’ll take it!
Now, can’t wait to hit the beach, Destin, FL this weekend with my family for more celebrating and fun in the sun!
I ran across this verse while reading a devotional online and thought it was worth sharing…
Verse: ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a matter.’ Proverbs 25:2
So, what does this verse mean for us, God’s people?
I believe that it simply means that God conceals. But, I also believe there is a reason for this. During so many different situations in our lives, it can be extremely hard to discern God’s will and not everything will be black and white for us. It definitely doesn’t mean that we don’t want to know His will for our lives or that we aren’t praying for it. We greatly desire His will! But, more than knowing His will for our lives, God wants us to know Him and to grow in our understanding of who He is. If His will was always so obvious for us, we would find ourselves seeking it more than God, himself.
So, in our journey of seeking God’s will for our lives, let’s truly set out to know Him on a deeper level. Said nicely from Steven Furtick, ‘The scariest possibility for our lives isn’t getting God’s will wrong, but getting God’s will right but barely coming to know God in the process.”
Lets press on to know Him more and more each day! For, He is so worthy.
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