Giving Thanks

Well, I have definitely been neglecting my blog. I have been soooo far behind on editing and working and just keeping up with daily life. BUT, hopefully I am almost caught up for now. I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday week and enjoyed time spent with their families. I was on call this Thanksgiving so we stayed in Morgantown and celebrated the holiday with our second family, the Mewshaws. God has blessed our family more than we could ever have asked for and while I was yearning for the smell of my mommaw's amazing homemade biscuits I realized as always God always has a plan for us. I never knew that 8 years ago a random girl I met on my first day of college would become my family. Jenny drove a huge Dodge Truck, listen to country music and ate creme brulee, I drove a Honda Civic, loved hip-hop, and had never even heard of creme brulee. This year I am thankful for a thousand things from as small as coffee to the amazing grace of God. But I am also thankful for friendships and family like Jenny and Danny, I have no idea what I would do without you guys in my life.

Does God use the internet?

This past week I had an experience and I wasn't sure if it was something I should share pubicly or not. After reading this some of you may think I am truely crazy while others may be as blown away as I am. I am enjoying being a child of God and just exploring our relationship, I have noticed that I pray way more than I ever have and I just feel secure knowing that I have a God that has everything under control. I was sitting in church on Sunday and just praying for God to use me in whatever way he desires. While praying I thought to a book we used to sell when I worked at Tolley's Bible Book store called "God Chasers". I have never read this book and know nothing about it except from the title I gather it has something to do with chasing God :) I really didn't give it much thought until lastnight when I went on Amazon (which I use all the time to buy photography equipment) to buy my girlfriends baby gift. I added her diaper bag to my cart then clicked to proceed to checkout, once on the next page I noticed my balance was about 10 dollars more than it should have been and when I looked at the items in my cart their was 1) the diaper bag and 2) the book "God Chasers". Josh was sitting beside me on the couch so I asked if he had been looking at amazon on my computer but he said no. I had just bought several things about 2 weeks ago and the book was not in my cart at that time. When I clicked on the book it states it was added Aug 24th. I felt like I had just witnessed a modern day miracle. I am always praying for signs from God that I am making the right decisions. Of course I went ahead and bought the book because now I have to know more.

What is your Rock?

Josh used to tell me how much my independence impressed him and to be honest it also used to impress me. I thought I was really strong and that overall I made really wise decisions, (not always but for the most part). I used to think that I was the one who controlled my life which frequently got me in trouble with my mother. Flashfoward to married life I realize how much I depend on Josh for EVERYTHING! If I receive good news he is the first person I call, I just want to share evrything with him. Josh is a fabulous husband and amazing father but I have come to realize that I have been using him as my foundation in life. He has always been the sturdy ground that has held me together, the only problem with this is no matter how amazing I know he his, Josh is still just human and not exempt from failing. We have quickly outgrown our home and have been looking at houses everywhere throughout Morgantown. We found this great house in a great neighborhood that was twice the square footage as our current house and to beat it all the price was awesome. After further research we found that the house has a cracked foundation and that was the deal breaker. Unfortunately this house was not built on sturdy ground giving it a faulty foundation. This made me think about how I have built my life on faulty foundations and the only true Rock to build on is through Jesus.

where does my strength come from?

For many of us today was just a random Tuesday and we are just thankful it isn't Monday, but to a friend of mine today will be a day she never forgets. She will play each and every detail of this day over and over again in her mind but it will never make sense. Today is the day my friend lost her husband after an extremely short battle of an unbelieveable aggressive cancer. They only had a couple of weeks from the day of the diagnosis til today. This just hits home so hard because she is my age and they have an amazing little girl that is 2 weeks older than Noah. When you here of sorrow such as this you just want to run home and wrap your arms around your family and NEVER let go! I have no idea what is going through her mind and I am sure she is just numb right now. I know when I lost my grandpa (he was the only father I have ever known) i went through numerous emotions. The whole time he was ill there were certain songs I would play over and over just because they reminded me that my God is still my God even when I'm at my lowest and you want answers when there aren't any. While I was running today i was just praying for Jess and her family and i kept thinking "where is she getting her strength from"? and the words of this song came to mind. It is so easy to trust God when we are ontop of the world but when we are hurting sometimes it is just as easy to blame Him for our suffering. I can't say if I were in her position that I would be as strong with my faith and I am sure at some point I would question and possibly blame God but fortunately He never leaves our side. If you could please just take a moment and pray for my friend even if you don't know her and just lift her and her family up to God.

Rob & Christina are Engaged!

I just love this couple. Rob and Christina are the perfect match for each other. I had so much fun doing this shoot down on the Waterfront. We arrived to a band playing some very dark heavy metal music that was definitely not setting the mood for a romantic shoot. They were troopers so we headed on down the trail and ended up with some wonderful pics. I can't wait to capture their amazing wedding in April. Congratulations you two!

Introducing Baby Brooklyn

Here is the follow up of the photoshoot with baby Brooklyn Wine aka my future daughter in law :) She is growing each day and I know its hard to believe but she just keeps getting even more cute. Hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Hold the emails

If you are trying to check out my website or send emails, I am in the process of launching a new site so change back in the next day or so. For right now please send emails to candiebennett@hotmail.com
thanks
candice