family photos ‘09

As I had mentioned in a previous post, we had the privilege of being photographed this year by Carissa Gallo. Carissa’s husband, Andrew, used to work for Bill at Brainbox. He started work for him when he was 15 or 16 and left 5 years later, having gotten married to Carissa right before he left. Bill would often tell me how much Andrew reminded him of himself when he was his age, only Andrew was more mature and gifted. =) He was incredibly blessed to have Andrew work for him and has gained as much out of their friendship as Andrew has.

What I don’t get is how grateful this couple is to us for giving Andrew an opportunity to work at Brainbox. When we did the photo shoot, they joked that Andrew would have been bagging groceries and not been able to afford to get married had not Bill taken the time to invest in him. Of course, I don’t believe that for one minute, but we are so indebted to this couple for their generosity and care. Knowing the financial difficulties we are in and as a way of saying thank you for investing in Andrew, Carissa (after talking with Andrew) agreed to do the shoot for free. This was such an amazing act of generosity for us. We were going to pay them whatever we could for fewer pictures, but Carissa so graciously agreed to take our family photos free of charge!

Can’t thank God enough for how He has blessed us through the Gallos. As I commented on Carissa’s blog, these photos are so meaningful to us b/c they capture our family during a specific time that we will never get back. Time never stops, as much as I would love to keep us all (especially my boys) where we are right now. I so often wish I could freeze time... But we will be able to look back on these pictures and remember a certain time and place that we were at in 2009. And we will remember how the Lord was so faithful to us this year as we struggled financially, how He sustained us through Josiah’s drama-filled birth and health issues (i.e. apnea monitor & band), how our boys are such gifts to us, etc... and how the Gallos were so willing to bless and serve us by taking the time and effort to photograph these moments which brought us to where we are now. Those times are what we will remember when we look at these photos… a challenging, but sweet time the Lord walked us through.

Here are some of my favorites… =)

Andrew and Carissa, may the Lord bless you for your generous hearts and care for our family. Can’t tell you what it means to have these pictures to look back on, especially to recount God’s faithfulness through people like you. THANK YOU!!!