The aroma of the turkey in the oven filling the rooms, my father playing the guitar as he whistles a tune, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade playing in the background on our tv, and my Mamma stirring up some vegetables for her Pumpkin Soup in the kitchen.
These are the little things that I never want to forget on days like this. The older I get, the more I really start to see how blessed I am to be in the family God placed me in.
In a bit my family will start coming and we still have two tables, one for the adults and one for the "kids"... and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. My Nonno says the prayer in Italian as he has done ever since I was child before we enjoy our meal.
I'm so grateful for many things this year, God placed me in a position I never thought I would take, new beginnings, new hopes, and both my Nonni still here with us.
God is good always, always, always. May we always remember that... and may you have a beautiful, joyous, filling, and full of laughter Thanksgiving Day with your family and friends.♡
Quiet. Stillness. Peace. In our world and society, these words seem to be the complete opposite of what we strive for.
We want the success, we want the perfect home, family, job… we want the perfect life. And often times when we reach for the Lord, we only look for Him in the big, and loud parts of life.
We want the boom, showy, make a statement type of God. We want to see Him make grand, amazing things right before our eyes…so then we can proclaim it truly is His voice.
But God.
God is grand and majestic and all of those wonderful things. But He also doesn't normally do what we expect of Him.
When Elijah went up to the mountain, the Lord spoke and passed right by Him. And Elijah saw the greatness of strong winds, and rocks being broken apart. He saw the earthquake and a great fire… but the Lord was not in any of those.
1 Kings 19:12 //And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.//
After all of the noise… came His still small voice.
Sometimes it's hard to think a God so grand and capable of the impossible would be in the stillness, in the quiet. Our human hearts want to see to believe, yet the Lord asks that we listen.
He asks us to see beyond what is in front of our very eyes. The Lord wants us to seek Him with no distractions… He wants our whole hearts and attention.
And so He comes to us in the most unlikely places.
1 Kings 19:13 // And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?//
The Lord's still small voice was in the cave. Not in the busyness, not in the noise and chaos. But in the silence after it all.
When the world becomes too loud and we're busy looking for signs… let it be quiet.
When you can't seem to find peace in the everyday… let it be quiet.
When you think you're not enough and too much all at once… let it be quiet. And sit and listen for the small and faint whisper He wants you to hear.
I was so excited when Jen asked me to take Christmas photos of her adorable baby Bryce. Jen and Anthony were my first engagement couple around 4 years ago. As soon as Jen arrived with Baby Bryce I went over to say hi to him and as I looked into the car, he shot me a smile..... and then I melted.
There was a park nearby, and as I'd take a few photos of Bryce, he would smile and take off running (losing slippers and all). He kept us chasing after him the entire session! But his contagious smile kept us all laughing. Here are my favorite photos of Baby Bryce... total cuteness overload!
