When We Ran Away To The Sea//Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer

If this post doesn’t make you say: “Holy COW, God is amazing!”…then I have really failed at my job to be a conveyer of his glory.

Ryland surprised me with a little getaway for our 9th anniversary. It felt scary to leave the kids for a few days…we haven’t been away together in over 5 years. Read that again everyone…5 YEARS. The night before we left, we laid our heads down on our pillows with anticipation that tomorrow was going to be the great escape! “At least the kids are healthy!” Ryland said as we closed our eyes. It wasn’t an hour later that both of the older boys started vomiting back and forth for the rest of the night…and we had to get up at 5 am for our flight.

If there was any doubt in our minds that we should be doing this, it vanished that night. We needed a break. We woke up, shoved our suitcases in the trunk and drove to the airport, with hearts of thanksgiving towards our mothers for stepping in the trenches of parenting 3 boys 5 and under.

Being away gave us time to think and reflect. We have a magical love story when we have the chance to engage with it… But sometimes it’s hard for even our own hearts to remember. Every day we are faced with a stampede of texts, emails, to-do lists, and 1 million requests from the kids. We are paying bills, making business plans, discussing ways to grow the children well, wiping unmentionable surfaces and substances, etc. It’s true: our marriage can look more like a machine than a living, breathing, story.  Function is certainly not a bad thing. It’s like that back-up default mode that exists for security in case the real mode, the ideal mode needs to take a break. But love can’t run on default mode forever. It has to be turned back on to the full-charge, “made for this” mode! We had to wake up. we had to go gaze at something bigger than our stresses.

As I write this story about leaving stresses to find adventure, I also have to acknowledge the extremely devastating reality of those suffering in Texas and other parts of the south right now.  Those husbands and wives left on an adventure that they didn’t choose and are now facing the scary unknowns of chaos and home-insecurity. I believe God makes people stronger in circumstances they need to persevere through. It can be so hard but the cool thing is: he invites all of us on the outside of the storm to come in and help him rebuild.

I know how helpless we all feel thousands of miles away. If you are looking for a tangible way to support those families in Texas, why not start by supporting the local small businesses there? I wanted to share an opportunity with you that would make a big impact on a specific family in Corpus Christi, Texas. Ryland’s brother is a Roastmaster (guy who roasts and sells coffee) there. He has served our country in the Navy and is married with 3 small children. Their home is mostly okay but the majority of the impact there will likely be economy-related. Would you consider buying a bag of delicious coffee from him in order to show your love and support? Click here to purchase a bag. Thank you for considering it!

Ryland and I pulled over on a small dirt overlook where there was a path down the cliff. We came across this little cross with the name “Asher” written on it. I wish I knew who it was for and what their story is. For whomever Asher is, we were glad to come upon your little memory there.  The size of the redwoods is just incredible! We went zip-lining in the red woods and it was pretty amazing. 1500 ft. long zip-line going 45 mph!