PICTURES OF MILLER

Miller is 3 months old and he is a sweet sweet boy. I enjoyed visiting with his mom and grandmother while we took his pictures. He was a real trooper. He only had to stop once to get some refreshment and then he was ready to strike a pose again. What a blessing to have the opportunity to hold and kiss on these babies while I take their pictures. I love it!!!

Baby Pictures

Allie's 1st birthday. Sweet Allie had a good time getting her picture made in honor of her 1st birthday. I had to be quick and catch her on the run! She is a hoot and I just love those big blue eyes!

Addison Grace

Addison Grace is the daughter of Charlie and Beth Sizemore of Hideaway Lake. She is precious, and I really enjoyed taking her pictures and loving on her--And she smelled so good!!!! What a good and perfect gift from God to her parents!

Gordon Wedding

On August 20, Andy and I had the privilege of photographing a wedding for Akoshua and Des. Akoshua was a beautiful bride, and we really enjoyed the day being with her family and friends. That's what I love about doing weddings: You become friends with the people you photograph and get the opportunity to share in their anticipation for the big day, the nervousness when that day comes, and the emotions of family and friends who are there to celebrate with them. Hope you enjoy the shots and get an idea of what a great time we had.

Reflections of Joplin

Tonight I close out my postings about our Joplin trip. As I reflect back on the week, I know there are some things we left behind; We left behind dozens of frames filled with new photos of memories of new beginnings for families. I left behind all of my "what if's"; What if this was a bad idea? What if no one calls? What if I have to bring these frames back to those who bought them? What if I somehow misunderstood God, and we are not supposed to be at Joplin? What if it was not a good idea to bring Gracey? God revealed His plan in His time.  He directed us to each individual and each family. Another thing we left behind is new friends. With some of the families it was as if we had known them all our lives. And the last thing that I know that we left behind is a city of people with hope.
    As I discussed our upcoming trip with our friend Ken Brumley he put it so well. He said that we have seen so many pictures of the devastation and destruction. But this ministry would be different in that it would help bring the families hope of new beginnings. A photograph that said, "Here is our most prized possession-our family. We may have lost everything but we still have each other". And I heard those very words over and over again.
    I think my favorite part of our week was when we handed the families their pictures and they replied, "What do I owe you?" or "But I don't have anything to give you." The richness of that moment, knowing that God provided a way to make this possible, would just well up inside of me.
    We brought some things home with us too. The stories. Hearing the stories of each family and how they survived the tornado. Or how someone in their family did not survive. Hearing them say, "I know that God protected our family, because if we had not of gone here, or been there, or been on time here, we would have been killed."
    Seeing the volunteers. Hundreds of them. They may be standing in the street holding a stop sign, or there would be a group of them working at what was left of a home and they had no idea who the owner was. It was really hard to tell sometimes if they had made any progress, or if they would ever finish.
   The volunteers in all the churches working, sorting, directing traffic, being personal shoppers for families. We enjoyed talking to a youth group of 25 youth from a cowboy church in Commerce, Texas who were there volunteering wherever they were needed. We visited with them as they were eating their picnic lunch out of the back of their church van.
   The many volunteer churches who had turned their buildings into hotels, cafes, medical clinics, drug stores, counseling centers, storehouses for food, water, Gatorade. And all of these services of course were free of charge.
    Then there was the team of people from a church in Ft. Worth who had been on the corner of the parking lot of Forest Park Baptist church for 5 weeks cooking meals EVERY day so that people could eat. This group had arrived on the Thursday after the tornado. I talked to one 19 yr. old college student who had quit her job to come and cook meals every day in sweltering heat. She said she had not had a blow dyer on her hair or wore make-up for 5 weeks. They were also staying in a church. Talk about washing feet.....she truly had the heart of a servant.
    As I came in our living room to sit down and write this, I had just had a shower and I said to Andy,"Isn't it nice to just come and relax in our home".  I immediately felt guilty because I was reminded of all of those I had met who did not have a home anymore to do what my family and I were doing at this moment
     Thank you friends and family for your prayers. Thank you for the frames, and the other donations that you contributed in support of this ministry. Thank you Graceworks and Green Acres Missions Ministry. And thank you to our God. Seeds of His love were planted and I know He will finish His work.
   We finish with this scripture that the Lord gave Andy this morning, and it really sums it all up:
   " May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
     Blessings and Love,
Andy, Gina and Gracey
   
       

    

Friday

On Friday we left the motel late again because I spend the morning editing photos and uploading them. This would be our last day to take pictures. We went back to the aquatic park where we would meet a family to give them their photos. They were anxious to see them as soon as we got there. There was one photo of the baby that I couldn't get to fit on an 8x10 so I kept going up and finally got it to fit on a big poster. That was the first picture I showed them. When the the mother and grandmother saw the picture they both cried. They were so thankful for all of the pictures and then Cindy said, "But I don't have anything..." I said yes you do now, you have all these pictures. She then said, "but I don't have anything to give you."  I told her that she wasn't supposed to give me anything. Just seeing their reactions meant more to me than anything they could have given me in return.
   Later that afternoon at the same park Judy who we had met earlier in the week came by because she had Joplin t-shirts she wanted Andy and I to have. Judy is the neatest lady! She brought us the shirts and brought Gracey a little porcelain clown, which she loved. When Judy was 50 she decided to go back to school and get her teaching degree, which she did and then taught school, elementary school for I think 12 years!!! She is an awesome lady, so full of love and laughter. We are so much richer because of having met her and her daughter Marcy.

   Then Friday evening we had the opportunity to photograph a large family. They had all been effected by the tornado. They are a beautiful famiy, and such sweet people. The oldest grandaughter had just returned from camp, where she had given her heart and life to the Lord and been baptized. What a great celebration! We enjoyed our time with them so much, and were so blessed to get to know them.

Thursday

On Thursday we left the motel late because I had spend the morning on the computer editing and uploading pictures. We decided to take Gracey to a nearby aquatic center that had a water play area. Before leaving the motel we had prayed that we would meet more families that we could minister to and photograph because we wanted to redeem our time. While Andy and Gracey played in the water I me two more families who had lost everything they owned in the tornado. Their stories are always so interesting and I have enjoyed listening to each one. We photographed one of the families on Thursday night and tonight we will photograph the other one plus one more. 

     Later Thursday evening we had the opportunity to spend some time with Mindy and her three children. They are staying at their church at this time until they can find other housing. Mindy is a single mom and we were so encouraged by her testimony and her faith in the Lord to take care of her and her family. She is completely at peace with what is going on in her life right now.

   Tomorrow we go home and we have been blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to meet and photograph the families that we have made friends with. Please continue to pray for these families as they go in with their lives.

Editing

Wednesday's post is full of mispellings because of technical difficulties.....Again! Please overlook them.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning after breakfast we went to find a place where we were told there was many families living in tents. We finally found it and there were some people in tents but as it turned out it was not displaced families from the storm. I really don't know how do describe what the situation was, but it was one that the National Guard was helping to patrol. Someone had given us some MRE's to bring with us and give out where they were needed. So after asking if they would be needed there, we left them there, thankful that they would be used.
   We had an appointment with a family in the evening to have their pictures taken at The Falls, so we drove and found that location. It was a beautiful place and so after walking around a bit we went back to town.
   We went to another church who had a disaster relief station. It's amazing the amount of supplies that these churches have on hand and even more amazing to me is the church volunteers who work in the heat, drenched with sweat so that they can organize and make ready these supplies. While there we were tracked down by a local TV station who had discovered what we were doing and wanted an interview with us. So we did it, and apparently it was on the evening news. We didn't see it, and my only hope is that we accompish the purpose for which we have been called here to do and the God receives all the Glory.
     We went back to The Falls to meet our family to photograph. When I saw them I recognized them as being a family that we had talked to at Light Up Joplin. I was glad to see them. But to our amazement The Falls were FULL of people swimming and rafting! Who knew! So we decided to move to a nearby park. What this family had lost in the storm was more than anyone we had met. Their 16 year old daughter had been killed while at the Pizza Hut. The roof and wall collapsed and she was under it. They showed us a picture of her and she was a beautiful girl. We were very fortunate to meet this family, spend some time with them, and hear their story and share God's love with them.
    We took photos of another family after that, but I will save that story for my next posting.
    Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers. And thanks to Jolely and Jared especially at home for feeding and taking care and cleaning up after all the animals. I love yall!

Tuesday's Post

Tuesday Morning we got a late start. After breakfast we went by Forest Park Baptist Church to hand out more of our flyer's. Their disaster relief station is called "Mission Joplin". It is their bus barn turned into a relief station. They really got it going on!!!! After a family checks in they are giving a "personal shopper" which is a volunteer that helps them shop for the things that they need. They have everything from bibles to stuffed toys to bathroom supplies....anything they need. They have shopping carts to drive around and gather up their things. It's really amazing the amount of supplies that are there. And then if is not in the building its in the 18 wheeler trailers parked on the lot. Every church has a fork lift to move around the huge pallets of water, Gatorade, etc.
      Mission Joplin is where we met Mr. Norman and his daughter. Mr. Norman was living in an assisted living quarters when the tornado destroyed it. He and some of his friends gathered in a closet to ride out the tornado. Although it destroyed his home, he was praising God in the fact that he was alive and protected. When Andy told him about what we were doing he was read for a picture right then and there!
     Next we met Marcy and Judy who are mother and daughter. They wanted their picture at  St. Mary's Catholic church, which is a favorite picture spot so we met them there. They were a hoot!! We had a blast with these two ladies. Marcy, the daughter lost most of her things in the storage building where her things were stored. Her Mom Judy worked at the catholic school which was in the building where we took the photos. Both women were brought to tears as they
looked around. Judy worked in the school part of the building serving lunch to the children. Because the tornado happened on a Sunday evening there was no one in the building except the priest and he got down in the bath tub and rode out the storm.

   As soon as the tornado passed and these women were able to get out and down the streets they went and bought food and water and started cooking and handing it out to volunteer workers and their neighbors. It was truly a blessing to meet them and hear their stories and laugh with them....they were hilarious!

Picture Day

I have to confess that I have been discouraged, wondered if we had done the wrong thing by coming. We have continued to pray every morning for God's Will, His Timing, and His direction. This morning we got our first phone call. Someone who had got our card last night at Light Up Joplin. We met them at the Catholic church....or what's left of it. Seems to be a popular place because as you will see from the photos that the only thing remaining is the cross. Someone has hung a huge tattered flag in a "used to be" tree. You will see how the bark has been ripped off the tree.
    The children belong to Sally, they are her grandchildren. The tornado barely missed Sally's home, but destroyed other homes of her family members. Immediately after the tornado was over she was out with these children, trying to give aid to others. One of her family members was the infant that was trapped in Wal Mart, you may have heard about him. He survived. Had her grandchildren not been with her, their fate could have been different. In the picture behind Sally is the nursing home where her mom had lived. There are numerous wheel chairs scattered about the area. I didn't even realize it had been a nursing home until today. Sally's Mom had died prior to the tornado. She couldn't talk about it without tears....I think it was because she was so thankful that her mom didn't have to be at the nursing home during the tornado but had already gone Home.
   The other woman is Lisa. Lisa didn't lose her home, but many of her family were affected and sustained great loss. Being with these ladies and the children was like being with old friends. They were such sweet people and we had the opportunity to talk to them about their relationship with the Lord. They were so   thankful                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              thankful and felt so blessed because of the Lord's protection in their lives.
    We went to another church today...Wildwood Baptist. They have designated their church as a "Hope Station". At this church they had set up a part of their building for medical needs, and had all kinds of medical supplies and people there to help you. As we walked through their building we saw that their Sunday School rooms had been turned into living quarters. There were both volunteer workers and homeless families staying there. Their kitchen was full of food and water and other supplies where they cooked meals daily to feed the volunteer workers, families and anyone else that dropped by.
    We are continually amazed at the volunteers, and church members who are daily attending to the needs of the community. Then, while in the parking lot of Forest Park Baptist, a church maybe the size of Green Acres, we met a few more families where some people from the Dallas area had a tent set up just handing out food.People were dropping in from every direction and they were giving out great looking huge burritos!!
    Pray for Lisa, and Sally and their families and those sweet children. And pray for Jim who we met in the parking lot tonight. He and his wife lost everything and are staying in this motel. But he was praising God for His Generous Provision in that they had enough insurance on their house that now they can help others!! What a self-less thought.

Light Up Joplin

Yesterday our day started at College Heights Christian church where we attended worship and also handed out more of our flyer's. We have been handing them out at McDonalds, leaving them at convenience stores, handing them out at parks, and wherever else we see people gathered. After we left worship we drove around the destroyed area again looking for families that may have returned to there homesite again. We also wanted to take some food to a man who is still living in his home. It has no front door and no back door.....you can see straight through it. We didn't find him home either.
       Yesterday evening we went to "Music in the Park" and talked to a few families and handed out our flyer's. None of these families had been tornado victims but all new someone who was.
        Later yesterday evening, after the park we went to "Light Up Joplin". It was held at another park across town.  The way I understand it, the idea had come from two young men who work at Toys R Us. Toys R Us had contributed and made available new baby and childrens clothes for people to get. There were also shoes and toys from other contributors. The Red Cross was there handing out refreshments as was many of the rescue workers and clean up crews and volunteers who have been working the past month.
     I'm not sure how many was there, it was very well attended, but many of the people there had been affected by the tornado and lost not only their homes but family members. I stood by Tony and Tammy whose 12 year old son had been killed. The picture you see attached to this post is of one of the local pastors praying with them.
    One of the incredible things about this event was it was put together by the area ministerial alliance. Many pastors were there wearing name tags so that they could be available for counseling and prayer. We joined in with the people as they sang songs of praise to the Lord. There was prayer, and there was a testimony by one of the local pastors who told about how he and his wife rode out the tornado on the floor of their closet, thinking they were going to die. They lost everything.....home, cars, but he rejoiced in God's protection over he and his wife.

    The theme of the event was not to be a memorial. It was one of hope. All of the flags have been at half staff in the city, but last night they spoke of raising the flags both in the city and in their hearts and moving on. It was very moving and uplifting. We felt very fortunate to be a part. We handed out our flyer's to many families. Some cried and hugged us. Hopefully, we will receive some calls and have the opportunity to minister to some of these families. Pray that our phones will start ringing and we will have the opportunity to do what we believe God called us here to do.

Hope for Joplin

This week my blog will be devoted to our ministry in Joplin. It's my prayer that the next pictures you see on here will not be of destruction, devastation and loss, but smiling faces of families......with Hope.

JOPLIN: A NEW BEGINNING

We arrived in Joplin today around 11:00. We spent last night in Branson, after the recommendation of Andy's Parent's to take Gracey to see the musical Noah. I had not had any luck finding a motel within 35 miles of Joplin for Friday night anyway, so we decided why not. It was a great show, and Gracey really liked it.
          When we arrived this morning the first place we went was to a park where we knew there were free meals being prepared. A group from Louisiana was there to cook Cajun food. They had started yesterday, and would be cooking through tomorrow. They wanted to show their appreciation for what had been done for them when a hurricane hit their town. We hoped to find some families there. We met a lady named Debbie, who had not been affected by the tornado but gave us the name of a church that she knew had been canvasing neighborhoods and evaluating needs. We went to Grace Baptist Church and talked to the person in charge and left some of our flyers. This church was providing meals for volunteers and anyone who needed them. After that we went to College Heights Christian Church. That's where I took a picture of the sign saying "SHOPPING". They had several tents set up on their parking lot where people come and get whatever they need. Again, there were dozens of volunteers there helping people "shop". After that we went to the third church, which is also a disaster relief station, with dozens of volunteers. When I say volunteers I am not talking about volunteers from these churches only, but there are volunteers from other states coming to these churches to help the members out. It's really unbelievable the volunteers that are here, and what they are doing.
        We talked to several people at these disaster relief locations and gave out our flyers. Some cried and hugged us when they learned what we were doing. Still some seemed skeptical. We talked to two different gentlemen that we met when we were driving through the neighborhoods. They were very interested, both had daughters that they wanted pictures of. One of the men had an adopted daughter from China and had lost every picture of her that he had. Hopefully we will be able to get back in contact with these families and get them some pictures.
      The pictures that I post do very little to convey to you what we are seeing. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The hospital is just........well I don't know how to describe it. The high school was leveled on the very night that the high school graduation was taking place............across town at another location.
     Pray for us that God will give us opportunity to love on and meet some more families and minister to them and give them the gifts that we would like to give them. Pray that God will direct our paths to the people that we need to meet who need to be ministered to. Pray for Gracey that she will learn how to love on people and minister to others.
Blessing to all of you,
  Gina

Jade, Ava, and Ian Hopson

Jade contacted me and wanted to do some pics for her husband for Fathers Day. So I took them out to the Copelands place just out of Chandler. There were still some wildflowers blooming so I thought it would be a perfect setting. It's so easy to take great pictures when you are photographing beautiful people!! Little Ava was a natural in front of the camera but Ian was not as anxious to be in the picture. But I think I was able to capture his precious little personality and get some really great shots of all of them. Jade you have a beautiful family and thanks for giving me the opportunity to do your pictures. Ava and Ian are so precious, they were perfect. And a special thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Copeland once again for allowing us to take pictures on your place!

Akoshua Starks and DeSaron Gordon

I was blessed to meet this little couple through a friend of mine. They were in need of some engagement photos, so they allowed me to take them. They are a really neat couple and were so easy to work with. They have great personalities and Andy and I enjoyed spending the evening with them in downtown Tyler. They have an upsoming wedding in August and I pray the God would bless their marriage as they began a new life together.

Sara's Wedding

The Debenport family who have become good friends of ours over the years asked me to photograph their daughter Sara's wedding. I eagerly accepted the offer. I have known Sara for several years, she dated our oldest son in high school and once you pass through our home and spend time with our family you're claimed! The pictures I have posted are just a little sample of what I was privileged to experience while acting as a photojournalist in an effort to preserve and document favorite memories. What a special and intimate time for me to be a part of the special day. To be in the Bride's room when a young woman looks at herself in the mirror and glows as she sees herself become a beautiful bride. To be privy to the intimate moments when the brides sister gives her special gifts for the day.....to see the Bride's mom's face be wet with tears, and then hear the giggles as she dances to the music playing on the ipod. Seeing the joy on the Father of the Bride's face as he sees his daughter, the bride for the first time and the hugs and tears exchanged between them. I could go on and on about the day, the moments, the memories locked away in secret places to be kept for days, weeks, and the years ahead. Don and Maggi, I admire you for making the day so special for your daughter. You blessed her and Matt with the gift of an awesome wedding day surrounded by family, friends, laughter, tears, great food, and yes dancing. We can't leave out the dancing. Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

Little Mason

Taking pictures of little Mason turned out to be a very sweet and precious part of my evening. He let me know as soon as we got started that we would get no where unless he got something to eat. After that he was much more agreeable with my ideas. What made it even better to him was when his mama held him close and talked to him. Photographing babies can be a real challenge, but seeing the sweetness of the love between a mother and her baby boy makes it all worth it.

Ronda & Emma

This photo shoot is of two people who are very special to me........in fact their family is just very special to my family. It's because of the bond of love that we share and have in common for two little girls that are very precious in our lives. Ronda is my best friend, and she is a great Mom not only to Emma, but to her two sons, who are very fine young men. I love Emma's smile in these pictures. What a precious gift!! Happy Mothers Day Ronda.

Hopson Kids

The Hopson Kids!
The Hopson family is growing and growing up.....such beautiful kids!

Krystan's Senior Portraits

I had the opportunity to take some senior portraits for a special young lady name Krystan. She has high goals and dreams after she graduates and I wish her God's blessings and the vision to see those goals come true.

Azalea Pictures

Every year since Gracey's 1st Birthday we have went to the Azalea Trails to take her picture. As I have looked at the pictures and edited them I think decided that I have captured her personality pretty well. She is growing up way too fast!!

Pictures

I have finally had the opportunity to take a few more pictures. I have an engagement shoot coming up, bridal photos, and then a wedding. Hopefully I will be able do some senior pictures. It's time for Gracey's annual photo shoot in the Azalea Trails in Tyler. Hopefully we can do that at the end of this week.

Recent Shoots

Pictures of Gracey and Emma

I have been wanting to take pictures of Gracey and Emma for some time. I managed to get some sweet pictures but it wasn't without hardship!

My Pictures

I am starting this blog so that viewers can follow my work. I consider myself to be an amateur photographer, but I do thoroughly enjoy capturing memories. I believe that everything I have is a gift from God....my equipment, my ideas, and my time. It's my desire to someway be a blessing to others and be a servant through photography.