SNEAK PEEK: Layman Family

Hi everyone! This is a quick sneak peek of the Layman family session! Hope you enjoy! There are many more to come, so keep an eye out! :)

Inspiration

So this is personal. I have been learning so much about what it means to be a child of God. I am a part of a womens Bible study at my church and we have been reading Extraordinary by John Bevere (amazing book). Chapter Seven, titled "Grace and Truth" has kicked me in the face, so to speak. Bevere discusses the Truth versus the truth.

The Truth is that "we have everything we need to live a life that pleases God." (2 Peter 1:3) The Truth is "...of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:16-17) "The completeness of Jesus has been imparted to us! Not the fullness of a prime minister, president, celebrity, rock star, great athlete, or scholar, but the comprehensiveness of Jesus Christ Himself." --John Bevere. Wow. You have the full nature (Christ's characteristics and personality traits) of Jesus Christ in you! If you are like me, your response would be "What?!! That's ridiculous!" Going back to 2 Peter 1:3, we have EVERYTHING we need to live a life that pleases God. It's starting to make sense to me.

Think of a seed as the nature and qualities of something or someone. Okay, let's continue.
"Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." --1 Peter 1:23

When we accept Jesus Christ's sacrifice, His wonderful gift of grace, we are born again of incorruptible seed. Incorruptible. Have you realized how incredible this is? YOU were born again and you now have this incorruptible nature and quality in you. The nature and qualities of Jesus Christ Himself. "As He is, so we are in the world." (1 John 4:17)

John Bevere brought forth the concept that we as God's children tend to think that we will be like Him when we get to heaven. However, as we read 1 John 3:2 we see that we are already like Him. "Beloved, now we are children of God." Not in the future, but now. It stands to reason that now we have his qualities because we are now His children. "We cannot possess inferior innate qualities if we are born of God Himself. His makeup is now part of us!" --J. Bevere. So, God did not only save us from eternal death when Christ died on the cross, but He also gave us His characteristics.

Wow! Are you catching this? We are no longer people of this world, but God's children. We are the ones who hold all of His characteristics and qualities.

John Bevere goes on to compare the law of the Old Testament and the grace we now live under. Matthew chapter Five repeatedly compares the laws to the standards God now has for His children.

Matthew 5:21-22 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement...But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire."

Matthew 5:27-28 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever look at a woman to lust for [desire] her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

"Simply put, under the law you had to do it; under the New Covanent of grace, all you have to do is want to do it!" -J. Bevere

What?! I am pretty sure that we all (at some point) have felt that grace was only to cover our sins and get us into heaven. Nope. That's not the only reason we have grace. Yes, His grace covers our sins, but by living under grace, we now have higher standards. To want to do something against God's will is a sin. However, His grace has given us the ability to now live in the Truth. Grace is, in a sense, a tool. As children of God, we now have all of Christ's characteristics and qualities. Therefore, God is holding us to higher standards. We have everything we need in order to live a godly life, a life pleasing to God.

The Scripture 2 Peter 1:3 has been written on my heart for years now. I am constantly reminded by the Holy Spirit that I now have (all because of Christ) everything I need to conquer my battles, run from my temptations and speak the Truth. I have all the characteristics and qualities it takes to become like Jesus Christ. Yay! Now all I have to do is choose. Choose to live like Christ lived. Choose to live like God created me to live. Choose to be who I am. Christ-like. For I now have His qualities.

I made this picture to remind myself of my choice. I am reminded so often of the battle for my heart. As a daughter of the King, I refuse to let this world turn me into something I am not. I am a child of God, and nothing short of it. I choose to live like it.

Let me tell you about Rachel!

I have this AMAZING best friend and her name is Rachel.

Rachel and I got to know each other through a youth group during our senior year in high school. We became close friends almost immediately, although, I hardly remember how it happened. Haha! All I know is, she is possibly the ONE person that truly understands EVERYTHING I go through in life. Wow. That's rare.

Rachel and I have gone through A LOT together. I could not count out the many times we have faced life difficulties together. My home is her home and her home is my home. We are family and she truly is my sister. We spend basically every day together whenever I am in town, seeing as I live about an hour away now. So far, we talk almost every day on the phone.

God has really used her to grow me, and vice versa. We both are hard-headed but at the same time feel all mushy inside when it comes to children. Rachel likes to bake while I like to cook. Rachel has compassion while I have lacked such concern. I am bold and honest, Rachel is learning to be honest. Rachel is active, while I am a home body. Rachel is funny almost all the time, while I struggle with being too serious. Neither one of us is fond of drama. Rachel leans more towards the "worrier" side of the fence while I need to care a little bit more than I do. Rachel wakes me up in the morning with singing and dancing. I keep Rachel up all night by talking her ear off. You think I'm kidding? She wakes me up at 6AM and I keep her up until 2AM. We have loads of fun when we are together. We cause a lot of ruckus at times. However, we also have a TON of real deep, meaningful conversations. Conversations that really convict and bring the Truth front and center. God is definitely the center.

Some of the biggest reasons I love Rachel: Her heart is RIDICULOUS! She may fall, but she acknowledges the Truth as she is fighting to stand back up. She reminds people of their beauty and perfection with her words and actions. She truly is a servant. She knows more than any other person her age (that I know of anyway). She looooves to make people happy. In fact, just yesterday she said that when I come home we are going to get coffee and go to Books A Million to read craft magazines. :) She knows me too well! ...and all the while, she's waiting for me to ask her to play disc golf, I just know it! ;) Rachel truly amazes me with how much she KNOWS...and I mean, truly KNOWS...God's Truth. She holds me accountable in all areas, my attitudes, my openness, my reading of the Word and my chores. Everything. She reminds me of God in all that she does. Which is AWESOME.

Anyway... God has convicted me lately about how I should treat Rachel as I do all my other clients. Rachel is amazing in that she has been my "quinea pig" for years now when it comes to photography. I think that God has taught her patience through all our explorations! Haha! She is the one who is always there if and when I want to practice photography. However, I rarely ever touch or show you any of her pictures. So! I, Stephanie Strasburger, will be posting a blog soon and an album on my website Sunshine Photography holding the many faces of Rachel Parish! I cannot wait for you all to catch a glimpse of possibly the most wonderful woman on the face of the earth! She is truly wonderful and an INCREDIBLE blessing to me! God has done SO MUCH in me through her. Praise Jesus!

Thank you Rachel so much for being such a loving and caring person! Youuuuu light up my liiiiiiife! <--- I was singing just then. :) You are truly wonderful. Seriously a beautiful woman. A warrior princess. :) I love you!

Senior Session: John

It was an honor to meet John. Truly an honor. John's sister, Laura, contacted me about a week earlier to ask if I could take her brother's senior portraits and of course I agreed! I was not sure what this session would entail, honestly. I have had little practice with shooting a male figure, so I was a little nervous (silly, I know). I cannot account for John and his sister Laura, but I know that I had a blast!

John is such a sweet kid. He had such a cheerful spirit about him. Truly a joy to capture! He brought out his beautiful accoustic guitar during a certain part of the session and played a little as I took pictures of him. Good grief! I do not recall telling him how amazing he was, but I guarantee you if I were not so focused my jaw would have dropped! His playing guitar was absolutely beautiful.

Enjoy!

John, I have no doubt that God is going to do so much through you (even though he already is). Keep up the good work and hold on to your passions. I truly believe you will reach great heights!

Couple Session: Aubrey and Brian

I have not known Aubrey too long, maybe a year. College! It is such a wonderful place to make new friends! Aubrey is a sweetheart who has such a loving personality. Seeing as I have not had the opportunity to capture many couples, Aubrey and I put together this session! They were a great help in my photography exploration!

Thank you Aubrey and Brian for allowing me to capture your growing love! It was a honor!

Creative Session: Carlton Dawson

Carlton and I have known each other for almost four years now and all because of college here in Americus. Carlton is RIDICULOUS and when I say ridiculous, I mean he is extremely talented. He sings like no other person I know. I could learn so much from him. He is also an amazing dancer, and if I am correct, he teaches hip hop (maybe some other classes, too?).
He had mentioned months ago how do a "shoot" would be a lot of fun, but we never really got around to it. However, we were finally able to plan a day to do this! :) We took photos out in his backyard (it was beautiful, by the way) at about ten or so in the morning. It was incredible lighting and plenty of nature to roam!
Enjoy!

Thank you Carlton SO much for helping me out! I learned a lot through this session all thanks to you!

Creative Session: David Gillespie

David is my "little" brother. I absolutely love him to death. He could tell you that we haven't always gotten along (as most siblings usually don't when they are younger) but as I reached my college years, we have become closer. It's possible that since we were no longer living in the same house, it made it easier for us to get along. He has become best friends with my husband, Chris, which is AWESOME!

I have had the honor of watching his love for Christ grow. It blows my mind! I am so proud of him for his love, compassion, and committment to God. He is definitely an incredible person with a ridiculous heart for Christ! I love him TONS!

Thank you David for letting me take your pictures! :) It was a lot of fun! And I definitely enjoyed hanging out with you in the process! :)