This is a post I’ve been dreaming about writing for a long time.

I never imagined that I would type this with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart, but I am simultaneously so excited and expectant to see God work through this next season of life. As of October 1st, I will be running my photography business full time! It was the most bittersweet night telling my youth group that I would no longer be on staff, I would be moving an hour away, and my time with them just wouldn’t be the same.

I graduated from JMU a little over a year ago, and took on the role as the Ministry Assistant for our youth group at Centreville Baptist Church.

This is the church I grew up in, the very place where I first truly accepted Christ as a teenager while going through a really dark time, and the place I’ve worked at for the past 4 summers.

I stood on stage tonight telling everyone about this decision, 10 feet away from where I got baptized when I was 6 years old. It wasn’t truly goodbye yet because I would be with them for a few more weeks, but it still had a sense of finality to it that I wasn’t expecting.

A while ago my youth pastor explained to me that “decision” has the same root as the word “incision.” To cut out. To truly make a firm decision is to say that one thing stays, one thing is cut out.

I haven’t felt the weight of that reality until recently, when decisions seem so life changing and so permanent.

I’ve realized through several avenues that this was the direction I needed to move towards- through the trustworthy encouragement of friends, through anxious prayer, through hitting my physical limit of exhaustion more than I’d like to admit. Through disconnecting from God. Through putting my worth in how much work I could get done. Through being short with friends when they just needed someone to listen to them.

Shadi and I are overwhelmingly excited to go full force on starting a business that will not only sustain our livelihood, but also starting a business that will celebrate marriage and the gift that it is. We are excited to cheer other couples on as they take a leap of faith and commit to forever with each other.

What a crazy adventure this will be.

We want to be your cheerleaders 🙂