draw me nearer.

Draw Me Nearer
words and music by Meredith Andrews

For your nearness Lord I hunger
For your nearness Lord I wait
Hold me ever closer Father
Such a love I can't escape

For your nearness I am hoping
For your nearness Lord I long
Have no need of any other
I have found where I belong
Yes, I have found where I belong

So draw me nearer Lord
Never let me go
Closer to your heart
Draw me nearer Lord
Draw me nearer Lord

In your nearness there is healing
What was broken now made whole
Restoration in its fullness
Lasting hope for all who come

In your nearness I take shelter
Where you are is where I'm home
I have need of only one thing
To be here before your throne
To be here before you throne

And keep me here, keep me here
There's nowhere else I rather be
So keep me here, keep me here
There's nowhere else I rather be
There's nowhere else I rather be

So draw me nearer Lord
Never let me go
Closer to your heart
Draw me nearer Lord
Draw me nearer Lord
Draw me nearer my Lord

first comes love.

i have a special like for engaged couples.

especially when the "him" is my little brother.

congrats Jeremiah & Ashleigh!

i am STOKED to shoot your wedding in December!
(jump on over to my Kekasmai Images site for more pics of these two}

looking back {1 day}

as i get ready to step into the next season of my life and accept that i am really an adult(25 makes it so real), not a small child trapped in a big person's body, i have been looking forward to what's ahead and looking back at what got me here. so today, here is a list.

25 things that have brought me this far...

- my BIRTH mom i would like to say Thanks and Your Welcome. Thanks for bringing me into this world, and your welcome (not that i really had much choice in the matter) that i wanted to come early and be real little in comparison to my big brother :)

- growing up in an amazing family centered on Christ. "thankful" doesn't even come close to expressing how full my heart is when i think of how blessed i am to have grown up in the family i did.

- being home educated. once again THANKS MOM! for making a choice to keep us at home, not because you wanted to shelter us from the world, but so that you and Papa could give us a godly/biblical worldview, so that we might be empowered to change the world for Christ! AND, who doesn't love having lunch with their siblings every day, taking "field trips" to the Zoo, taking a break to play outside because weather is nice and being able to study missionaries as a history assignment!?!?!

- my brothers. you have all taught me so much! Gregg and Jeremiah. goodness, thinking about growing up with you 2 makes me laugh and want to cry! i'm so happy we got along and did the CRAZY things we did! Thanks for not letting me be a girly-girl. Thanks for teaching me how to play basketball, baseball, football and rollar-blade hockey! Thanks for including me in your laser tag games and capture the flag teams even when i was the only girl! Thanks for being friends with me in junior high and high school... you didn't have to. Thanks for making sure i knew what the mind of a guy is like and how to be a lady who wouldn't settle for a stupid boy.

- my sisters. what in the world would i have done if i were the only girl?!?! 6 brothers and me. that would have been insane! I'm SOOOO glad God gave me 5 little sisters to love and hang out with! I love "sissy-time" more than most things! I love that we are close and can stay up all night talking! I am so thankful for all the fun times we had playing house, barbies, dolls and making up dances! i'm proud of each of you!

- Billy Graham Crusade. Realizing my need for a savior and a life calling bigger than myself.

- running. i started running when i was in 4th grade. the smell of spring reminds me of track season. i have SO MANY great memories from my time on the track.

- BSF. Bible Study Fellowship was apart of my life for more years than not. My biblical knowledge and foundation has come from the weeks digging into the Word and learning what Hermeneutical studies are.

- Moving to Whatcom County. Scary, but the best thing my parents ever did for us!

- Haiti. My first look at world missions. i was 16 and had never been on a plane, much less experienced a 5th world country. My life will forever be changed by the stories i heard and the things i saw... for this i am thankful.

- High School relationships. Navigating HS is hard stuff. Trying to figure out friends, boy friends and dating is rough...doing this with crazy emotions and lack of life experience?! oh my goodness! how ever did i survive? I'm thankful for what i learned, but never want to do that again!

- Road Trip revelations. June 2004. North Dakota. Hosea 2. Mind blown.

- YWAM. Discipleship Training School. I'm not sure it should be called a school, although you learn a lot of stuff and hear a lot of good teaching i think the real growth comes from the relationships and everyday experience of living in community. Also, the World shrinks once you enter the YWAM world, it's a weird phenomenon.

- Africa. Oh Africa. I can't even describe what you did to my heart. Preaching to 600 middle school students and being reprimanded for assuming i could preach like i would in the states? Humbled much? Preaching at a Muslim school 2 weeks later and realizing that God does things so much better than you could have planned. Seeing tumors disappear because our God heals.

- March 2005 - April 2007 Last years living at home with my amazing family. Wouldn't trade them for a college diploma if my life depended on it!

- the Edge. My first "child". My first taste of church ministry and politics. You taught me more than i could have ever taught you. Releasing you to God was hard to do, but knowing i did what i was called to do gave me the courage to go on.

- India. I thought i had you figured out but upon arrival i learned i didn't. not one bit. The sorrow in the eyes i saw will never leave my mind. The smells and sounds will be forever heard in my dreams. Until we meet again, you hold my heart.

- Learning to pray. The biggest teacher for this was August 2005 and having my (at the time) 3 year old brother Elijah in the ICU at Children's hospital for 3 weeks.

- Moving to Bend. Faith in it's most raw form. Although the process of getting here was insane and complicated, i could not have stayed living the life i was. Change, it moves things forward.

-Falling off a cliff. Who knew that breaking your foot could be the biggest teacher of living a life of faith/risk?

- Working at Red Robin. Challenging beyond imagination. Rewarding beyond what i thought possible. "A Smiling Burger 'wows' our guests every time..."

- Learning to love people without selfish motivation. I'm no longer concerned with climbing the social ladder, all i want to do is love people well.

- Living with Married people (Thanks Mike & Allie and Jesse & Tay). I have been asked a lot what it's like to live with married people... it's awesome! If you want a glimpse of what marriage might look like, live with married people, they are the real deal! I'm SO THANKFUL for the opportunity to have watched 2 awesome couples walk through life!!

- Oneighty. I think i have been a student to this ministry as much as i have been a leader in it. I cannot imagine my life without you. Thanks for letting me cry, scream, spit, laugh and preach! My only hope is that you know my love for you and my desire to see you hit the mark that is the call of God on your life!

- Being submitted to the call of God regardless of the cost. Anything he has asked me to do outside of my understanding or desire has been worth it. Walking in surrender is the thing that over and over again has defined my life and brought me this far.

my whole house is great {2 days}

please watch:



25 things i like (in no particular order):

- i like my Papa and Mama
- i like my jobs
- i like my coffee
- i like my pajamas
- i like my brothers
- i like my sisters and future sister-in-laws
- i like my cameras
- i like my whole house, my whole house is great.
- i like my Seven
- i like my church
- i like my best friend
- i like my purple pillow
- i like my Beth Fischer
- i like my heroes
- i like my dance moves
- i like my 180
- i like my peanut butter creamy
- i like my man
- i like my music loud
- i like my toys with no noise
- i like my road trips
- i like my airplanes
- i like my hair
- i like my secrets
- i like my life, my whole life is great

licking the bowl {3 days}

Seven was pretty stoked about this situation...

i take pictures {5 days}

i love it when people are willing to do things that are a little out of the box for a great shot!
this is Willow, she is one of those people!

getting ready. {7 days}

i am currently in "editing" mode. this means i am wearing my over-sized gray sweatpants, an old tshirt, ponytail and glasses. comfortable and creative.

the last 5 weekends can be summed up in one word: weddings. 5 weddings!

some of my favorite photos from a wedding day are of the bride getting ready, i feel honored to watch the transformation from (tired) "un-done" girl to stunning princess bride! i love the smiles when they look in the mirror as each step of the getting ready process unfolds... the smiles, the gasps and the giggles!

also on my favorite photos list? the "first look" photos. the moment where the bride and groom see each other all decked out for the first time! It's usually been a few HOURS since the bride started getting ready and a few MINUTES for the groom! i've seen tears, i've seen sheepish smiles, i've seen blank expressions and jumping with delight!

recently i have been pondering what it means for the Church to be the bride of Christ, a phrase i am not particularly fond of... it's a hard phrase to understand and fully "get", especially in a culture and world where a wedding is a commercial event, not a sacred covenant.

as i sit for hours and edit wedding photos i have thought a lot about "getting ready"... we get ready for the day. we buy calendars so we can plan and get ready for the week, month or year. we take action to get ready for birthdays, parties, days at the beach, road trips and bed.

girls need time to "get ready" for most things...especially after the age of 13... getting ready is more than putting clothes on and brushing out last night's bed head, getting ready is a process. we shower and shave. we brush, comb, back-comb and blow dry. we curl and pin. we apply makeup, lotion and perfume. we (most likely) try on a couple outfits before we settle on the one we are actually going to wear; not to mention the shoe options for each outfit.

for a bride on her wedding day take that process and multiply it by 100. most likely there have been multiple dresses tried on, once "the one" is picked it has to be fitted and hemmed. sometimes there is a practice run through on the makeup and hair. a lot of times there is a change of shoe, from the ceremony "pretty" shoes to the comfortable reception shoes. not one detail is left out. not one blemish is left un-covered or smudge of makeup left un-fixed. Tide-To-Go pens are a must have on the wedding day, just in case something gets on the dress... no one wants a blotch of lip gloss from the flower girl's hug on the white fabric.

if the Church is the bride of Christ shouldn't we be doing a better job at getting ready for our "first look"? should any detail be left out? should spot or blemish remain? are we too concerned with being "seeker friendly" rather than a pure bride?

empower. {8 days}

em·pow·er –verb

1. to give power or authority to; authorize, esp. by legal or official means.

2. to enable or permit.


i have been pondering this word for a couple weeks and have decided i really like it. it's a verb. a "do-ing" word. i want to empower people to accomplish the will of God for their life by whatever means is in my hands. i want to permit people to speak into my life when necessary. i want to see people lifted up and encouraged because of Jesus in me.


empower. it's a good word.

new roommates. {9 days}

3.5 years divided by

i moved to Bend. 3 roommates
+
6months later i moved again. 2 roommates
+
8months later moved again. 2 roommates
+
34 days later moved again. 0 roommates
+
8months later moved again. 4 roommate
+
13 months later moved again. 2 roommates
+
6months later moved again. 3 roommates

=
7 moves. 16 people lived with.

move much?

i am stoked to live with these 4 fine ladies! they are incredibly wonderful and funny.
i like living with funny people so i anticipate this working out just fine :)