Gretchen
October 23, 2021
This girl taught me something about life.
Bear with me. After our shoot, after I had drenched her hair and we slid through the mud and faced down the cows (more on the logistics and fun behind-the-scenes in one minutes' reading time:) ... after all this I sat in her car waiting on construction, and she blew my mind in the most refreshing, non-selfish way possible.
She said (regarding her life and what's next and all the unknowns of the world), point blank: "If God is calling me forward to serve and help others, shouldn't I be willing to give up my dreams or what I [think I] want?" (I'm paraphrasing, I don't remember her exact words, just sitting back a little star-struck by this beautiful girl.) That's not a very popular senior speech. Give up dreams? But it's like I'd been offered cool water. That's what it's all about, isn't it? In a world so focused on me me me and what helps and benefits me, here she is willing to lay herself and her kingdom down - full of joy! - for what is best.
And it's there, resting in the Lord, where delights of the heart are found. Psalm 37.
And I mean I'll get to photography and pictures in a minute, but I don't want you to miss this. This is life here happening right in front of us.
I truly believe she does and will bring Him glory. That girl runs multiple jobs, volunteering, high school and general life - she's got hustle. That's a lot for anyone. But her heart is so beautiful and so set to serve for God's best. God's best serves others and is simultaneously for our personal good (- His words, not mine!). She's saying she wants and craves something deeper. Here's the thing about deeper: the more we dive into the beautiful waters of life God's way, the closer we are to His heart, the more purposeful, meaningful and deeply satisfying life will be. It's crazy to me how she grasps that conviction so clearly. So that's why I love her heart. That and her hugs are stellar, if you've received a Gretchen-hug, you've walked away a better person, fact haha.
M'kay. Well, anyway. Switching gears.
Fun fact. I had never before intentionally set out to take pictures in the rain.
But I live in Oregon.
And I had this funny realization...
If I only ever take pictures on, like, perfect days
I am going to be severely limiting myself, disappointed and in general miss out on amazingness.
So here we are, setting out to grow. Gretchen is the perfect one for the job: her personality really shines here. The pure joy and down-to-earth realism she displays is flawless.
Only reality needed a little help: it is in fact raining, however, it takes quite a lot of rain to make one's hair wet. My hair has only personally looked that amazing naturally twice. Once in a downpour running from my barn to my house, and once on seventh grade defense playing soccer on a wet Saturday morning for an hour.
Since it wasn't a torrential downpour and we were short a soccer game, I resorted to the fiendish act I am so proud of, which would be dumping a bottle of water on her head. She flipped her hair and squealed (laughing) as we worked it evenly from root to ends. Thus you now know the secret behind her hair. It was beautiful dry, but alas, art calls us to new heights. There's time for dry hair on a dry day.
So we slipped down the hill (literally. We both almost fell first thing.) and started shooting. Literally so much fun - there I was holding my massive umbrella in one hand, with it's broken prong stabbing me in the head, trying to shoot one handed without being blown away and we both just laughed the entire time. The entire time. It was so incredibly lovely.
Just like her. Thanks for being my new friend, Gretchen. You are a wonderfully, amazing human. Keep going out there and killing it.
Love and serve.
Love, Sarah
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