I have been wanting to write on Love for a long while and after hearing a sermon one Sunday morning on it I knew that God was putting a lesson on Love in my heart. Yes, I am in Love at the moment with a amazing man but I soon realized that Love as beautiful as it is must be intentional.
LOVE = Selfless commitment to another's well being.
I think the word commitment in this definition is what brings on the act of being intentional. I think for the most part (and this is a generalization) people want to see other's succeed. Teachers want their students to pass. Coaches want their team to win. Parents want their kids to have good jobs, marry the right people etc. But to be selflessly committed to one other person with the end goal resulting in their well being must be intentional.
I was with my sister the other day and one of her little girls was crying, I mean wailing. Her poor baby girl was hungry and was not up for the car ride home. As we drove along the crowded 3:30 p.m. streets of Brownsville trying our best to make it home as fast as we could I saw what a selfless commitment it was to be a mother. Drop everything and meet the needs of your baby. You come second the needs your baby has come first. I was sure my sister wasn't going to say "Yeah I can hear you crying but I really do need to stop for a manicure and pedicure, so zip your lip girl can't you see your mom has needs to." Ok so the example might seem far fetched to us as Christians but you get the picture.
It was not about my sister, it was about her baby.
Thank God it just doesn't stop with children but God desires us to live intentional about love.
As I get ready to get married I thought about living out Love in my relationship with my fiance. I love him dearly and want him to succeed and think he is the most amazing man on the face of the earth. I deeply desire to intentionally Love him. Not love him because he did it all perfectly or knew what to say but purpose in my heart to Love simply. I think that often times being in christian circles wives or husbands tend to have more grace on their "disciples" than they do on their own spouse. Believe me I have heard enough negative talk on marriage and the "just wait after you are married seven years it's a shocker, eyes wander and you grow tired." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I hate the attitude some have now a day about marriage and call me naive but I would rather have faith like a child in the Lord about my marriage and future than to negatively anticipate and participate in some of this marriage counsel. If God designed Love and marriage than He alone will be faithful to see it to the end. It is not my desire to throw my hands in the air and say well whatever happens happens nor is it my desire to anticipate a negative relationship in the future.
What I have decided is to pray and ask the Lord that he make me Love intentionally. To Love not just those who love me ---For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? MATTHEW 5:46
Do I claim to be an expert, No not at all, do i boast that my life will always be perfect, No, I know God builds us through trials.
But what I do draw comfort in is knowing that He loved intentionally for me. I didn't deserve his commitment of selfless love. Christ is the one who is the model of this and I need to cling to Him in order to anticipate Love and intentionally give it to others.
***That definition in itself brings about so much conviction in my heart, if I can be painfully honest. I want to Love intentionally not just to please my future husband or others but to please my God, the one who selflessly committed Himself for my well being that He might be lifter higher.
Photos from Arizona :)
On the plane
The beautiful braid he made me :)
Paying for parking
And Breakfast :) Yummy
Lessons from Arizona
This October I had the chance to visit Arizona to see my fiance Rigo. I was more than excited at the chance to spend time with him along with some amazing friends. My best friend Marylou and her husband Shaun Tan were blessings the whole time and I learned many valuable lessons on marriage, trust and the importance of girl friends.
Of course like anyone in my situation where the man she loves is thousands of miles away all I wanted to do was run to him and spend every waking moment in his presence. :) But in the mix of football practice and other things he had to take care of I found that valuable "girl friend" time was important also. One morning while my man was busy snapping the football we all went to eat breakfast. Our ever polite hostesses Ruth and Milo took us out and we had an amazing time. As we stuffed our faces with egg whites and whole wheat pancakes I realized all over again just how important Godly friendships are. Seeing the way these men, Shaun and Milo, treated their beautiful wives spoke loudly to me. Of course I missed my man and felt a bit incomplete but being in the company of those I was with made me appreciate him so much more.
Spending sweet time with him in Arizona and praying outside one cool evening are things I won't ever forget.
I am so proud of all he has accomplished as he has been gone. Even as he finishes this football season with the UFL I am grateful for our time together and apart. YES I SAID APART. This time apart has brought on so many lessons learned from trust to communication. Being together in Arizona made our semi long distance relationship all the sweeter. I am learning, apart from him, about being content, beautiful as a person, trust, the importance of communication, expressing myself and of course PATIENCE. Patience to wait on the right time and the ability to trust God with this relationship no matter what issues may arise.
We've truly made a commitment before we even say I do to each other and I am seeing the value of quality time and blessing each other with our WORDS. That is all we have right now and I am so blessed to have been given a man like this who is so giving with his words!!!! Even if he is thousands of miles away I feel so close to him, so assured of his love and so blessed by the Lord.
A wonderful gift
My life has changed so beautifully after God crushed the walls of fear I built up around my heart. During the summer of this year I battled so greatly with God about so many things. I felt my days were as water just slipping by with so much confusion and fear. This was truly a time of refining from God because He alone knew what was to come.
I met Rigoberto Morales in March and nothing became of our conversations but God had a plan. A beautiful plan. We began talking again on July 9th and since than a purpose filled relationship began to grow in Christ, with Him as our foundation. Rigo is a God-fearing man who loves the Lord, has convictions and is what I had always prayed a man would be in my life. Through my cynicism of relationships and love, God restored me this summer refining a lot of ideas and beliefs that were still remains of heartache. God brought me a man that would love me as a woman. I know the love God has poured out on me through Christ and NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON could take that place. But I know God has given me my hearts desire fulfilling it in every way from things that would seem insignificant like his laugh, his eyes, the tone of his voice, his sense of humor to the significant things like his beliefs in Christ, his faithfulness to tithe, his convictions on relationships and respecting my dads wishes. I was worth it to him, Rigo, to pursue everyday. I felt more blessed than these words can say the day he asked me to marry him. I cried at how this wonderful man loved me, me, little insignificant Theresa. The one that wants to be invisible was seen. I trust God in the things concerning my heart and see now that all things have a purpose. There were nights I prayed and cried out to God for a man just like Rigo. So consistent, so thoughtful, so patient, someone who loved the convictions I had and did not think it a bother to deal with the things I believed. God has always given me grace for the day and I pray He will use this relationship to glorify HImself. I have much to learn about being a wife and a woman of Christ in such a way as this. I am just going to enjoy this season and be in awe and the goodness of God!
ON THE HOOD OF MY JEEP WRANGLER OFF OF HIGHWAY 48!
So it's windy outside and after sitting in an always humorous 3 o clock budget meeting we get a notice that high winds are slowing down traffic off HWY 48... so I'm off. I'm off to photograph sandy roads and once again do the whole parking on the side of the road while people look at you like your crazy. But if that isn't enough I knew that the only way to get a better shot was to stand on the hood of my jeep and shoot the oncoming traffic. So there I go thinking I'm invisible and "who will notice, who will care" But after some honks I thought to myself "hmmm... how crazy does this look." Anyway sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get the shot. Can I get an "amen" my blogger photogs :) Needless to say I had sand in my ears and in my hair. BLUGH !!!
Cameron County pay reduction / And the power of invisibility :)
This assignment was surprisingly fun! The people could care less if i was right in their face. If I had a superhuman power it would be the ability to be INVISIBLE :D
A messy fun day :) Can we say Pedicure
This is a photo of a recent oil spill that made its way to the beaches of Boca Chica and S.P.I.
My feet were covered in oil and had to get them scrubbed - the foot scrubbing felt great ....hehehehe :D
I went with a reporter Alexandra and we walked the jetties- they were HOT!! We also got stuck in the sand so I used my trusty 4 while drive- I Love my Jeep Wrangler!!!
<3
Two off camera flashes set up on tripods one for the ball covered with a speed grid to narrow the light and one set up for his face. YES YES my job is fantastic!!!
FOOTBALL SEASON IS COMING YEAHHHH!!!!!
This is a photo of the new football coach at Saint Joseph Academy Christian Putegnant. This was fun as always :) I LOVE WHAT I DO!!!!!!
Sam Hurd is Awesomesness and oh so HUMBLE!!
This assignment was great. I got to meet some of the Dallas Cowboys although I am not a fan. Sam Hurd shared his faith and I loved it :) mucho humble!!
My Thoughts Exactly - Thanks Time Mag
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1908243-4,00.html
Twice a week I open a gym that I work part time for and in my bosses office she always has a copy of Time Magazine. I like to flip through it and look at the photos of course. I love Time because they are so simple in their design. ANYWAY as I glanced at the cover of the July issue I saw a wedding cake with the topper of the bride and groom sinking into the cake. I laughed and thought that was clever and the title said "IS THERE HOPE FOR THE AMERICAN MARRIAGE?"
I couldn't help but stop and quickly find the article. All that was said is profoundly true.
Let me back track a bit.
For the past six months or so I have heard of more than "several" relationships that have fallen apart. Marriages that are crumbling and kids that are hurting. Fathers that have multiple families and living double lives. This hurts me so much. I am a christian single woman that would love to get married to a man that is in love with God and with me. I have seen even "christian" men fail but knowing a man has convictions and boundaries brings a relief to me. But anyway. I struggled with a question after I heard about all these failed relationships, "do people fall out of love?" I couldn't help but feel overly cautious about getting into a relationship. Why are people so unfaithful? What causes people to leave a family and union that at one point was so special? I pray for my heart daily and don't want to be cynical about love but after seeing the cover of Time this morning I thought "only God can ordain and keep a marriage... including my own." I always said God was the author of such a thing as marriage. Now I know that although God wills the best for his children we need to understand that marriage is not a trial and error but it is forever.
Twice a week I open a gym that I work part time for and in my bosses office she always has a copy of Time Magazine. I like to flip through it and look at the photos of course. I love Time because they are so simple in their design. ANYWAY as I glanced at the cover of the July issue I saw a wedding cake with the topper of the bride and groom sinking into the cake. I laughed and thought that was clever and the title said "IS THERE HOPE FOR THE AMERICAN MARRIAGE?"
I couldn't help but stop and quickly find the article. All that was said is profoundly true.
Let me back track a bit.
For the past six months or so I have heard of more than "several" relationships that have fallen apart. Marriages that are crumbling and kids that are hurting. Fathers that have multiple families and living double lives. This hurts me so much. I am a christian single woman that would love to get married to a man that is in love with God and with me. I have seen even "christian" men fail but knowing a man has convictions and boundaries brings a relief to me. But anyway. I struggled with a question after I heard about all these failed relationships, "do people fall out of love?" I couldn't help but feel overly cautious about getting into a relationship. Why are people so unfaithful? What causes people to leave a family and union that at one point was so special? I pray for my heart daily and don't want to be cynical about love but after seeing the cover of Time this morning I thought "only God can ordain and keep a marriage... including my own." I always said God was the author of such a thing as marriage. Now I know that although God wills the best for his children we need to understand that marriage is not a trial and error but it is forever.
The Fourth
This is one of my favorite holidays! It was fun and hot though :) Luckily I can submit photos from home so yay still had time for BBQ :)
One Hard Day
This assignment was hard. The lady in the photo lost her father who was a pastor in a plane crash earlier that morning. She was surprisingly strong. Photographing someone so closely in their home after sitting with them is for only ten minutes was hard. It's hard to be invisible when you have not had a chance to really sympathize with them and just sit and be normal. These photos aren't amazing but that's sometimes situations you will find yourself thrown into. This not a human interest / war zone / third world type of situation where good photos lend themselves. It is not even like a portrait where you keep shooting until you get what you like. This is why working for a newspaper is so interesting, i could never do the office thing. NEVER SAY NEVER RIGHT!
ALL METRO baseball players 2009
This assignment was one of those quick "my parents are waiting in the car" type of scenario. Usually when I know it's crunch time and the sports writers scheduled two photos in one time slot it requires a lot of patients for the subjects. These guys were really patient as well and again talking with them about everything and nothing is good to get them relaxed not so uptight :) I HATE UPTIGHT anyway. HAVE FUN, relax and enjoy meeting new types of people. **I'm not to thrilled with the shadow behind Lopez's head in the dugout photo. Need to work on getting rid of that.
Rivera's QB J.J. Sanchez
This photo shot was a blast :) These kids always make me laugh.
But J.J. really loved the camera. While I was testing my light he was totally loving the attention. Overall I think making conversation with your subject making them comfortable and being able to laugh with them is very important with portraits. This is not one of my favorites but it was enjoyable none the less.
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