365 days of marriage

On Sunday we had the honor of photographing a session for our March Madness contest winner! It was such a beautiful day and I can’t wait to share the pics!

This may be the first for a portrait session, but here’s the behind the scenes!!

What is required to prepare for a portrait session?

Well, first, you have to come up with a bewildered pose. For motivation, think “Why am I here? What am I doing? Do I smell something? Was that me?”

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Realize that it wasn’t you, so you can smile about it.

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Make sure you keep in touch with the client, but still smile when you’re on camera.

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Look through the little hole on the camera to make sure you can see through, but also keep your other eye open when your husband asks you to look at his camera.

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Make sure you smile and look DIRECTLY at the camera to make sure it works.

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Look off into the distance, like all good photographers do. And make sure you make the photo black and white in post.

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If you’re losing motivation for the shoot, get the “Jen photographer thinking face on.”

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Make sure that your ~~free bag carrier~~ husband carries everything for you.

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Capture his reaction to your request to carry the bags.

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Make sure he looks off into the distance, like all good photographers do.

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And now you know how we prepare for a shoot! ::cue NBC, “The More You Know” music::

We’ve been making a lot of changes in our life recently. I want to say first that we are in no way saying, “how we live is how you should live.” These are different things that God has put on our hearts recently and we’re changing based on that. You need to follow your own convictions and beliefs. All I’m doing is sharing what we have learned and how the changes have changed us, even over a short amount of time.

Ok! The first thing that we’ve been convicted about is nudity in movies and shows. We read an article by John Piper that radically changed how we view nudity. We have decided to cut out all movies and shows that have nudity. It’s been tough to say no to family and friends who want to watch a show or movie with us, but a little discomfort to keep our eyes and hearts pure, is worth the cost. I even went through all of my movies and took out all of the movies with nudity. A sub-change in this category is also removing from my collection and not watching movies that glorify leaving your spouse for someone else. This is something that was NEVER on my radar until I met Bret. I’m a “this is a movie, entertainment, just go with it” movie watcher…well, I guess I can say, I was. Like most women, I do love a good rom-com. One of my favorites was It Could Happen To You (the one where the cop wins the lottery and splits it with a waitress). I watched this with Bret before we were married, a million years ago. About halfway through, he said he couldn’t watch anymore. At first I thought it was just the typical guy hating those types of movies. But he explained that the movie makes the guy’s wife look like a jerk and the whole movie, you’re hoping they get a divorce so the guy can be happy with someone else. It’s soooooo subtle, but it’s true. I’m thankful he made me aware of this. Especially now that I am so passionate about marriages that last.

Another change is our bedtime and waking routine. Bret was having trouble staying asleep all night, so I did a little research on things that could help. As of right now, here’s our routine (as much as we can manage it).
Starting at 8:00 p.m., we stop using all devices, TVs and computers. I read that they emit blue light, which is NOT good before bed, because it “wakes” the brain, much like being outside under the blue sky. We even turn off all lights in our room and use candles only (which emit little to no blue light). We do our evening devotions, read to ourselves and catch up. We enjoy cups of decaf tea. Taking a hot shower before 8 is helpful too. We’ve been blowing out the candles around 9:15/9:30. We also have a strict wake up time every day – 5:45…..that was TOUGH on Saturday (our first day of the new routine)! But! What a change it has made already! The first night, Bret slept through the night (I seriously wanted to make my Facebook status -“My baby slept through the night!”) And, to be honest, I’ve felt more alert in the mornings, even waking up so early. It’s been such a sweet time hanging out with Bret before he leaves for work. It also makes doing the morning devotions easier!

I’m finding the more I learn about God and what He desires from me, cutting things out has been so much easier. Taking movies off my shelf that have been there for years was almost freeing. Now, I’m not saying this with pride at all. The more I learn, the more I’m seeing how utterly sinful and terrible I am. I can agree with Paul when he writes:

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
1 Timothy 1:15

I am merely a sinner saved by Christ’s blood and overwhelming grace and mercy.

What about you? Are there things you’ve cut out or cut back on that have made a big change in your life?