Time is a mystery. In one glance, you’re wanting to rush the seconds that make up a minute, so that you’ll get to the moment you’ve been waiting for, and in the next, you’re holding the hand of your son, wondering how he grew up so fast.

Hope. It reminds us that even in the midst of darkness, there is still a light. With all that's going wrong in the world, there are still many things right. And that expecting and anticipating beauty is not outrageous but it is actually brilliant. It gives us fire for the days to come. And it tells us that the things that God has planned are actually better than we could imagine and even dream up.

There is something about fall that feels like a new beginning, that makes us come alive a little more. One of the incredible things about what I do is being able to go on location. I have had the most amazing experiences with families, whether we are running through a field, walking down a path or dipping our feet in the cool lake water, it is a beautiful thing to see families come alive in how they interact with one another, how they are in their very element.

"There are these moments that when you’re sleeping, I sit back and watch you breathe. I watch your chest rise and fall ever so subtly as your lungs fill with breath and then release. I watch as your eyelids almost seem to flutter like rest is chasing you down and how you squirm just so as if you’re just getting comfortable. I watch you move and imagine that maybe you’re dreaming about slaying dragons or running fast or maybe you’re just dreaming of colours, of love, of us."

The day my life changed forever was the day I found out I was about to bring you into this world. I remember how my heart beat fast in my chest in anticipation. I remember images of your ultrasounds flashing in my mind and how I had pictured your little feet every time I felt you kick. I remember that as we got ready how there was this rushing, this flurry, this excitement mixed with unpreparedness.

There is something that happens the first time you hold your sweet baby in your arms. You’re never the same. You’re changed. Suddenly, your life shifts from being mostly about you to all about the little life that you’re now holding. And in the midst of such a radical change, you’re in love. You are completely in love. You would trade in the sleeping in and all those beautiful inconveniences, for the pure delight of knowing and loving this little one.

We live in this culture of “get it done” and “do it fast.” We hustle and run through our days while our to-do lists outstretch our minutes and our days become like flurries. Have you felt it? Do you know it? Do you know the pressure to be all things to all people? And have you felt the fast-paced busyness of life get heavy on your soul?

The other day, I held the sweetest newborn in my arms. It made me think. It is a beautiful and brave season to be newly born. You’ve entered the world and everything, literally everything, is brand new. Your entire life story is unwritten. It is completely for the seizing and the revealing; who you’ll be, what you’ll do, where you’ll go is undecided. It is to be written. The possibility of that is beautiful.

They say you sound more friendly on the phone if you smile when you answer, and that you’re more approachable with a smile. In today’s world, it is so easy to rush, reaching to cross the next thing off the checklist that it is easy to forget the little things. It is so easy to even forget the joy of a smile. When you’re with your kids, when your husband comes home from a long day, when you feel frustrated, when nothing seems to be going right; just try to smile. 

Family is likely one of the most powerful forces in the entire world. And there are things about it that make it that way. Though for each of us, family is different; it is still home, it is  a place to belong and it is that place where we fit in perfectly.Family is knowing that no one could ever take your place. It is that spot where you are completely irreplaceable. It is that sweet place where you belong in all of your heart and personality and spunk; where you get to be unashamedly yourself every single day.

When was the last time you experienced something for the first time? Maybe a different culture, a new food, an experience that you’ve just never had before. And you know how there is that rush of energy and sometimes even fear that we get as we do something new, try something new, experience something new. One thing that I love about little newborn baby lives is...

Imagine you’re lying in the hospital bed, holding your precious newborn in your arms. You feel such a sense of peace, now that you’ve been able to see him or her for the first time. You can see they’re safe there with you, hear them breathe and watch them move their tiny little arms and legs. You’d love to shout it from the rooftops, to announce all those details, how much he or she weighed, or what day your long awaited baby was born on.