life of late | Personal

goodbye, 深圳. ⛩

And like that, back to the states...! My, do believe I’m going to be wrapping my mind around it all for some time. 

I was told by a good friend that coming back my world would appear smaller, by another that it would appear bigger, and I found both of these to be true. The world is smaller in that on opposite sides it homes amazing people I now have met; The world is bigger in that I can see how each of our experiences and our cultures are such an incredibly tiny picture of the whole.

I was struck with the sight of freedoms we don’t consider twice still being fought for elsewhere, but also with the comforting recognition that there is a freedom for hearts so deep it can be shared no matter the language barriers (and let me tell you, when asking ‘how do you do?’ accidentally comes out in the native tongue ‘how do you do...horse?’, language can become a barrier).

A freedom that is not an overruling of government but is a change of heart, a freedom of good news that cannot be contained, forbidden, imprisoned, or ever be taken away from those who love and hold it dear.

There is so so so much to process and take to heart.  Isn't it interesting how it is often the unpredictable experiences that leave the most lasting impressions on our lives? 💜💛💚

If you ever have the chance, allow yourself the opportunity to share tea with someone who doesn’t speak your language... Without words, volumes are spoken of the meaning of hospitality,
friendship,
and the value of loving one another as fellow men and women, with needs both of the heart and physical, despite our other differences.

And when you do travel: do it with other Jesus-serving, people-loving people! ALL

the more meaningful and memorable.

<3 Anna

Love documented:: synopsis of recent favorites | him+her edition

Oh my, here comes a photo overload.  What a whirlwind these have been, watching both newfound and dear childhood friends celebrate togetherness

🤍🤍🤍

so much so... indeed I haven’t gotten around to posting any of these prior to this.  Eeks.  There is far too much to be shared from an event or a piece in time of one’s life in just photos, and I’m finding this more and more as life eases along (the father walking his first child down the aisle; the young, giddy, teary-eyed fiancé who has found the one she loves; the devoted husband and wife of many years in marriage and life; all the tiny, most wonderful happenings that go uncaught by camera glass) - 

but it’s still worth it. 

It's still so worth it to retain, to capture, to remember.  

To take a glance at an image and recall all over, again and again, of how that moment, 

that embrace, 

even that chilly whisper of the wind, 

was etched in time and God’s heart alike. 📷 ✍️💕 

without further ado...

(shoutout to Olivia and Jennifer whom I shot a few of these weddings with)

home is wherever I'm with you. | Family Portraits

My Sister is getting married! | Engagement

"...Later that evening Rebekah and I were able to talk for a couple hours. We both found the conversation very enjoyable. 

Interestingly, at the time, God had us both in the middle of challenging and stretching things that were taking us outside our comfort zones, and looking back, it’s really neat to us how we were able to encourage each other to trust in God and focus on Him through those things. 

However, all we did was meet and talk that evening and then went back to our separate lives – 

just as they had been for 20 years before...

I don’t remember the exact day that it happened (I think it was a growing surety) but one day I realized that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt 

that Rebekah was the woman that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."