I am a Christian

When I was first creating my brand and event business, the number one value I wanted to portray is my faith. To be honest with you, I didn't know exactly what that entailed. The past couple months, I've had to reflect on how I can effectively share my faith through my business platforms and in person. The following are some of my ups and downs on my journey and future goals I have for my company through Christ.

"My goal for the content I create is to capture and share a fraction of the beauty God has designed this world with."

Some of you might recognize this sentence from my homepage. My biggest goal since day one is to honor God in everything I create. Everything I do isn't for myself or for the success of my business. It's to glorify God and to show the goodness of the world. With every family, couple, and person I take pictures of, God is with me. He fulfills every need of mine. He provides for me poses, locations, clients and equipment. There has never been a photoshoot where I've run out of ideas, or needed any other equipment I didn't already have with me. He truly provides for everything.

"In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:6

To be completely honest, I was super scared when I first got into photography. I was nervous that I wasn't going to "make it". There are a ton of photographers already, how am I going to stand out? I found comfort in Proverbs 3:6. If I believe in Jesus and surrender everything, and I mean EVERYTHING to him, there's no way I can lose. I believe that God has my path figured out for me. If that includes not making a ton of money from photography, then so be it. I don't find my worth in how many clients I get or how much money I make. I find my worth in Jesus.

You know those super cheesy Instagram posts with a bible verse? Yeah, that was me.

I'm not bashing anyone who posts pictures with a bible verse, but for myself, that was the extent I would go to be a "Christian business" when I first started. I wrote words that didn't mean anything to me. I Pinterest searched, "bible verses about marriage," or "bible verses about friendship." Don't get me wrong, all God's word is great, but I didn't quite comprehend the weight of what I was writing. Without knowing the true context of the quote, I didn't know what exactly the verse even meant. Through bible study and Salt Company sermons (my college ministry), I have a greater appreciation for the words God gives us to live by, and writing them randomly on Instagram pictures isn't glorifying him.

What exactly can I do to glorify God?

I've found the best thing I can do to glorify God is to preach the Gospel. I created this business because I love photography and I love Jesus. My life purpose is to go and make disciples of the nations. What does that entail for my business? Well, I'm still figuring that out. What I have focused on is making my services affordable for everyone. Like I said earlier, I don't take pictures for the money. I genuinely enjoy taking pictures and would love all the practice I can get. I try to offer affordable rates so everyone can share the joy of a good session. With that said, I am willing to negotiate prices if a client needs to do so! Jesus calls us to be kind to each other and love one another. I try to practice this everyday and especially with my clients. I want to be a light for everyone. Some people can be discouraged with how they look and honestly don't want to be in front of the camera. It's my job to tell them how beautiful they are and how great the photos are! And when you believe in the Lord, you truly do believe every person is beautiful. Every living thing is created by God with his perfect design. He has made all of us beautiful.

"We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it." -Madeleine L'engle