My Life's Calling

I was made to be a worship leader. That is my purpose in life. It took me a while to realize it, but now that I know...I really know. And I was made to serve alongside my husband. Eron is also called to be a worship leader. Fancy that! We should get married! He is so good at getting a crowd pumped for Christ. He is also awesome at making people feel really comfortable in their expression during praise and worship...i.e. raising their hands, kneeling, dancing, shouting praise. I feel so honored to serve with him, but I also feel BLESSED beyond belief that I get to serve with the Rocky Mount Praise Team. (We are currently waiting for God to deliver a name for our band...so Rocky Mount Praise Team will have to do for now.) The praise team not only consists of members that have quickly become incredible friends, but I feel that I have bonded with them in a way that I have never bonded with anyone else in my life. It's like we are all beads on the same string. We have experienced God together...and that has bound us very tightly together. I have come to the point where I am realizing that I would do anything for this band, these people, and God. Acts 20:24 is quickly becoming the song that is constantly in my heart...

"I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

I am determined to step up to the call God has placed on my life. I believe that our band can be used, if we stay humble, to lead thousands in experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit. I am willing to forsake all material things to see that this happens. If I have to only eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or sale my house, I'll do it. If it means that I can "finish the race and complete the task", I'm in. God might never call us to do any of that. But I know one thing, the light at the end of my tunnel is being a part of worship team that serves all around the world.

This past Saturday night, we led a youth Disciple Now at Providence Baptist church. We have another youth conference to play at on Friday. I am almost losing sleep I am so excited!!! God is awesome. And that's an understatement.

This is our band at Providence Baptist Church leading their Disciple Now service.

Meredith: Preggers McGee

Meredith and Caleb are having a baby!! She is absolutely, hands down, the most BEAUTIFUL pregnant woman I have ever seen. She is one of those whose belly is the only thing that grows. I hope I look as good as she does when I have a baby! She has entered the stage where she glows...most of the time:) (Pregnancy hormones have to kick in some time, right?) These are the first maternity shots I have ever done...and I'm pleased with them! These are my favorites...

I think this is my favorite. I love the trees in the background and the look on her face.

I love the look on her face in this picture. It was one of those "accident" shots.

They were laughing at how her stomach looks when she laughs. It was hysterical to watch them laugh so hard.

I'm really a big fan of this picture. I really love the look of it in black and white.

Sweet Little Boys

These are the cutest, sweetest little boys. Jacob and Dylan Strickland. I haven't done kid shots in a while...and this was hilarious. It was so hot and we were laughing so hard. If you could just imagine the sounds that were coming out of their mouths for some of these. They are the most beautiful children. I loved every second!

It's time.

Ok, here it goes. I'm doing this photography thing. I have wanted to persue it for a long time, but I've always been scared of what people would think. That sounds really stupid, but it's the truth. Do people look at my pictures and think, "she thinks she is way better than she really is"? Thankfully, I've had some great support along the way. My husband has been incredible. (It's still weird to say husband. I feel like I just graduated high school yesterday). He has helped with the building of the website and has been awesome about all the new equipment purchases. My best friends have been awesome, too. Meredith and Caleb acted like they had just seen Angelina Jolie when they saw the site for the first time. So, thanks for that. Random side note: I recently had a dream that Angelina Jolie became a Christian right after I found out that I had an inoperable brain tumor. Anyway, thanks to Kristen and Laura J. Two of my best friends who don't hand out major compliments often so I know that since they were excited and complimentary, I was on the right track. It means a lot. Sometimes I think that we as human beings realize what it means to others by simply telling them, "Great job." I know, I know, enough of the acceptance speech. P.S. The site isn't up yet. I'm still doing some tweeking, but it should be up and running by the end of the week:)

I guess the next acknowledgement should go out to the most important part of my life, Christ. Where to start? For some reason, I don't have a job. I have interviewed and even gotten offered a job in Georgia, but to make a long story short, it didn't work out. I have been given the one thing that most people need more of, and that's time. I don't like free time on my hands. It makes me crazy. I like having a million things to do, but for right now, I have tons of free time. I've had time to develop my photography "business" and that's all because of Him. He's been closing doors in my face left and right and here is the one door that has been opened. I'm still trying to figure out this next year, and honestly, I still feel very uneasy about it all, but I'm learning to trust. I had my whole life after college planned out...it involved getting a job pretty easily right out of school. Go with me here... I had made my shoes, designed the style, color, fit, height of heel...everything. And now, I'm having to watch those shoes sit in the closet while I put some other ones on. That was a complicated way of saying that this is not what I planned, but I'm learning to trust exactly where I am because I know that HE is in total control of my life. And guess what, all of these photography opportunities are an unexpected blessing. So in short, Praise God! I'm starting to like these shoes better than the others:)

The face of Mary Smith Photography: Ellen and Justin Spencer. Ellen is stunningly beautiful and I adore the picture at the top. For now, it will be the picture that I put my name on. I'm proud of it.

TANNER AND MASON:

I have known Tanner for forever. We went to school together, she was a year older and we were in show choir together. Her and I have steadily become great friends. I have some great yearbook signatures from her:) That was a wierd comment. Anyway, Tanner and Mason got engaged early in the summer. I asked her if I could take some shots of them for practice. Of course she agreed because she is awesome. She was nervous before, but I don't know why. It was so fun. We went downtown to Morris Avenue and sure, the first few minutes were...hmmm, awkward? They always are. But we laughed and everybody calmed down. Mason, her fiance is super funny and they have a great chemistry together. I feel like we got some pictures that were very "them". I am using quotations a lot. Like Joey. Well, here are some of my favorites...Enjoy!

(This is Meredith and Caleb...we made pizzas one night at our house. Just thought it important to put a face with a name.)

flowers.

It all started when I turned to Eron and said..."Let's get a backyard patio set." Well, if anyone knows me, they know that I tend to go overboard, especially with decorating. That very thing happened when we bought our patio set. It turned into a huge backyard project. These are some pics I took of the fresh flowers that we put by our newly painted BLUE rocking chairs. The colors are beautiful.

Ellen and Justin's Wedding.

It's been a while since I have updated! Here a few shots that I took from Ellen and Justin's wedding. I didn't take many...I was bridesmaid and there was a real photographer there, but I managed to get a few.

These were two of my favorites.

Wait, I really like this one, too.

Headshots.

I just recently added Brad Baker's head shots to our photo library on the new computer. Brad is a professional singer and he has done all kinds of different shows. He has traveled with several different cruise lines as one of the male leads and now I think he is doing a show in Branson, Missouri. I might be wrong about that, but either way, he's an incredible singer and has had steady work for the past three years in the entertainment business, which is no easy thing to do. 

These shots were taken last summer for his head shots. He definitely wanted something different and fun. I think we did a good job of achieving that! 

This looks like Brad's hand is cut off, but it's still a good shot.