Meet Meg.

She is one of my best friends in the wholeee wideee worlddd.

Her post is going to be… a bit… experimental, if you will.

You’ll see what I mean later. But for now, I’ll leave you with this little number:

*Wardrobe and accessories courtesy of San Diego Magazine’s FABULOUS Megan Smith*

 Comparatively, they make a blazing glow look lazy and dull.

Curtis and Rebekah are madly, brilliantly, luminously in love.

It took ten years, ten long and emotional years; but from what I hear, their journey wasn’t one that could have been rushed.

An honest account of their decade-long history trickled from Sunshine’s mouth; the details ran over my mind like icey-mountain runoff. Sure, I had heard of couples breaking up because of incompatibility before, and I was quite familiar with the long road to recovery called “getting over” someone. But what I’ve typically seen after healing from each other is a fresh relational start– each party “starting over” with someone new.

Sunshine leaned against a wall in the kitchen, arms folded, staring into the recessed lighting, remembering out loud, “Like a lot of couples, we needed to break-up to heal from each other, so that we could experience something better later. But what was different for us was that we needed to move on, you know to heal from our relationship, so that later we could be together later, in a totally different and new way. I didn’t know any of this at the time we broke up. I only knew that I needed healing. So I kept asking God to help me to get over him. But what he helped me do instead was get over what our relationship was before. The whole time, Mike stayed in my thoughts. I finally got over the relationship, but I never got over HIM.”

Their time apart (what I now see as “being in the wilderness with God”) drove Sunshine to deep emotional healing, and drove Mike to a new longing for God. He encountered his need for a heavenly Father in a more serious way than before. He now knew how desperately he needed God, and God’s wise counsel. Relationships, he figured out, don’t just work on a whim. He needed God to show him how to live right, and how to love well. All of these longings for help caused Mike’s faith to multiply. And this new faith he found not-so-coincidentally transformed him into the man Sunshine was hoping for the whole time. The awesome part to me is that it wasn’t by her nagging or some repetitive fight that made things different for them. It was the redemptive power in relationship with God that rewrote Mike’s DNA. His change wasn’t for her– she was removed from the picture. Redemption for him, no… for THEM, was genuine because each of were made new, for each other, by God.

Lots of love to you Mike & Sunny Girl! Looking forward to a long friendship with you both. XO

 

 She’s a poet.

She sees Creation in color, in sharp and excellent detail, casually breathing marrow and identity into dying leaves and forgotten feelings. She exhales, and the hiding world comes out to fight for her breath– the wind carrying her inspiration. She speaks authoritatively over the land, over its people, and their experiences. Paper is her shield and a pencil is her sword. She stabs at what the dehydrated population has lost energy for, and from her sword pours a heartbeat, a fingerprint of the unnoticed world, in black and bleeding ink. Her mind is spry and her hand is courageous; Kristin is a fluent translator for the inanimate to the unimaginative. Through her, even the blind seem to remember what they still have not seen.

Years later, when the distracting hum of youth has worn away, she will read to him the recount of their written history. He will nod with each dusty picture uncovered, thanking her for paying attention.

And he… he’s a carpenter.

He wakes before the birds sing, before the newspaper boy budges, and from homes unfinished, he watches a big dark sky illuminate. He puts to work strained and calloused hands, to create what others haven’t even the time to imagine– first cutting, then fitting, and finally placing all of the small and misshapen pieces.
He is a hard worker, a man who combats the spell of laziness. He is committed to using every limb, bone, and muscle to build up what once laid flat. Homes. People. Hope. By his faith, the unfinished horizontal world becomes tall and functional. Under his supervision, their marriage will know sound structure.

He has looked to God for pillars of support. And now with humble obedience, Levi has taken a knee to lay the foundation of their marriage. Soon enough, the elements will test what he has built, and in their home unshaken, Kristin will confidently rest. She will see her good man, and in the steadiness of his hands, remember their marriage was built to last.

 My next two are some serious FAVORITES.

Life is insanely detailed. I wonder how much of it we don’t even stop to notice.

Support Kristin’s first finished book of poetry. Check it out here!

 Um… yeah. Kristin. This is your essence:

 And finally,

 

 On the seventh day of January,

In the sweet coastal town of Newport Beach,

Handsome Michael Murphy married beautiful Sunshine Mehler.

The sea roared wildly, and their friends cheered loudly,

All hearts shouting to the infinite sky,

They will live happily ever after.

More soon on The Darling!

 The last time they had their portraits taken together, these sisters were rockin’ Lee jeans and white T’s.

If they would have waited another year, they probably could have sported the same outfit and been in style all over again.

But, twelve months happens all too quickly, and Lee jeans give massive wedgies,

so we opted out of that and into this.

More sunshine and stories from Ashley and Katie’s sister sesh coming to the Darling.

I used to think that every Grown-Up Life comes complete with an adoring husband, a cooing baby, and two-car garage. And that maybe, if I worked hard enough, and my credit score was somewhere in the good to great range, I could have it all. It was merely a matter of achieving.

But me and life have been *like this* lately. And all of a sudden, she’s into being brutally honest, and I didn’t know we were there yet, and now that she’s excruciatingly vulnerable, showing me all of her scars, I’ve found myself to be this totally awkward friend with loud gulps and sweaty palms. The honeymoon stage has exited left, and I’ve gone limp, standing with gangly arms dangling, slowly blinking into a blinding light, and I can’t remember even one of my lines. The drama is right here, life is bleeding all over, and I can’t think of one stinking thing to say.

These situations are playing out in every corner of my life.

My best friend’s fiancé left her for a woman at work.

My husband is swollen with regret for not visiting his now passed grandmother.

My cousin is growing more and more unsure of her identity, with each negative First Response test.

I mean, what could I possibly say? You got this one, Sport? Keep trying?!

The truth is, despite our best efforts, posh connections, and (respectable) salary with (excellent) benefits, us grown ups don’t always get the two car garage.

But somehow, by relationship with God, the harsh realities have manifested into a life far more intense, redemptive, and honest than I could have ever imagined. When a friend walks down the aisle, the joy I feel is to the core. Like, I’m more aware than ever that this privilege didn’t HAVE to happen. But, despite all the crazy odds, this is her gift. This is one of the gifts that WAS set-aside for her. And I get to watch the gift be delivered. Holy gratitude.

And when a friend phones, shyly asking to reserve a maternity session because she unexpectedly (but so excitedly) is with child… PEOPLE. I sob. Totally and completely aware that she has been gifted something I, and many other women, may never experience. This is her gift. This one is for her.

We are only given so much; achieving only gets us so far. At some point, we ought to look at what we have, may it be healthy parents, a reliable vehicle, a successful husband, one healthy child, and see these are our gifts.

And in the meantime, when we’re still waiting for a positive pregnancy test, a job, or love interest, we ride on the hopes fulfilled in those we have gone deep with. People who once waited, who once made it through personally dry seasons by being invited into someone else’s joys. This is why selflessness is the greatest return on investment. In caring for souls beyond your own skin, you are able to partake in a multitude of gifts, in a variety of seasons. That is communion. And that is a gift, withheld from none.

Amaya, you don’t have a clue as to how much joy I received by spending time with you. Just being with you in this precious time in your life filled my own heart up with thankfulness. You have been given something that surpasses achievement and success. This is something that won’t only bless you and Jason, but friends and family and neighbors and strangers. Your baby boy is a genuine gift, and he is so blessed to have you as his mom.

The next two frames are my fav:

Amaya, you are other-wordly-beautiful.

 

 

Jason has two-year-old twins, and a wife that loves him more than life itself. In America, he has his own comfortable bed and children who want him to cuddle with them in theirs. He has friends who still have Christmas presents with his name on them, neatly tucked away until he gets home.

He isn’t a robotic toy soldier. He is a God-fearing man, a thoughtful husband, a tender dad, a good son, a missed brother, and a faithful friend to many. He has things, people, LIFE waiting for his return.

We take the availability of a simple hallway hug for granted. We expect things like spontaneous phone calls and last minute rendezvous. We don’t count our kisses, because they don’t run out. There isn’t a deadline for our length of embrace, to look each other in the dark beed in the eyes, to nuzzle our face into the neck, and breathe in that sweet and personal scent. Most of us don’t even give two real thoughts to the blessed normalcy of our lives, the rich and abundant blessing that many families wish for.

But despite the sting of sacrifice, Ashley understands the importance of following through with his commitment. Because not long ago, she was a stranger serving in the Army with him in the same platoon. A beautiful and passionate woman, with her shiny dark hair tucked up in her hat, with her figure disguised by bulky uniform. She remembers the honor that follows service like a shadow. She gets why he has to be gone, why he’d even enlist with a risk of being gone, why she has to raise their babies, and why a day without praying for him is dangerous. She understands the loyalty her husband has threaded along his heart, and she is brave enough to let him be brave.

This shoot was taken when Jason came home from his deployment for a two-week break. He had been gone for NINE MONTHS, and was finally given a R&R, a trip anywhere in the world, and of course he flew straight home, into his favorite people’s embrace. Missing them wasn’t even a fair description for the feelings he carried. I’m sure it was a long flight home.

My one hope is that these frames embody the gratitude they all have to be together, again.

Today, I dare you to give your blessings two real thoughts. Sit with them. Name your luxuries out loud. Helps someone see what they already have. Today, put your wish list aside, be grateful, and let your gratefulness transform your anxiety into joy. When the euphoria sets in, if even for a moment, give thanks to God. Because His blessings aren’t by coincidence.

 

With her hair sprawled all over her pillow, cuddled under the cozy covers, Brianna dreamt the whole wedding.

 She vividly remembers standing in front of a mirror, admiring herself dressed in ivory vintage lace. Not only was she a bride, but a beautiful country bride, with long dark hair, and feet planted into brown leather boots. After one last look over, she took a final deep breath.  Yes, now she was ready.  Brianna saddled her horse and elegantly rode into town, to meet her father who proudly waited for her. There he stood, with an arm extended, inviting his sweet daughter for a walk down the aisle. Daughter and father clacked along, parting a crowd of familiar-looking townspeople, who were all dressed in their finest western apparel. Cowboy hats. Denim. Handkerchiefs.  Ankle-length skirts. Big fancy belts. Her eyes bounced from person to person— noticing they were all gathered here for her, to see her marry the man at the end of aisle.

Dawn broke and the sun illuminated her childhood bedroom, casting light onto the fact that she was only fourteen. But from the moment she pulled out of bed, it was only a matter of fulfilling the details. A matter of growing up, and finding the face waiting for her on the other side of the crowd.

On November 11^th, 2011— at Paramount Ranch, the site of countless Hollywood westerns, Brianna married her real life cowboy, Mr. Steven Jackson. Right on the set where Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman was romanced by Sully, in front of 200 rowdy guests, her father officiated the ceremony…. with a gun holstered to his leg, of course.

Guests seated on haystacks hooted and hollered! The whole town broke into chatter. Laughter. Hugs. Whistles. Uncontainable excitement. Children ran wild through piles of orange leaves, parents sipped Georgia peach tea, and the groom escorted his bride through the rest of her dream. They spent the evening celebrating the good news, like proper country folk. From delicious BBQ dinner, to a home-made cherry pie eating contest, to rowdy mechanical-bull-ridin and hours of line dancing—it was even more enchanting than she remembered.

Congratulations to the darling newlyweds, Mr. & Mrs. Jackson– Wishing you the very very best in the west. XO. Whitney

The whole set was designed by the mother of the bride. All of the labor and handy-work done by her father. WHOA, right?

Brianna wore an ivory vintage dress by Maggie Sottero. Absolutely ethereal.

Live folk music played by family and friends, as guests found their seats.

Can you stand how pretty everything turned out? The trees! The leaves! The girls! The dresses!

All of the groomsmen were given fancy-shmancy cowboy belts. Such a great gift idea.

Ow! Ow! Look at that handsome guy.

The bouquets were hand made by Brianna’s sister’s husband’s mom. Is that confusing? Forget what I said. Just know all of the work was done by family.

Darling cousin Ruby was the flower girl. She escorted Brianna’s childhood pup down the aisle.

A favorite!

 Each guest received homemade BBQ sauce, labeled for the occasion. SO YUMMY.

 

 Romance. Everywhere.

Wooden bridges from town to countryside. REALLY?

 

 

 

On a misty day in a beautiful coastal town, Nicole and Dan burned vibrant shades of Joy.  With racing hearts and glossy eyes, they said yes to forever.

More from the Haynie wedding to be shared on The Darling.