Levi and Stephanie (Engagement)
Actually, we had been trying to make this session work for almost a year now…
I had asked Levi and Stephanie to model for me last winter, and it just didn’t work out until last week, and boy it was worth the wait! One week before their session, when it was just the two of them, by Stephanie’s pool, in the late summer evening, Levi got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. “We wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” they told me, with sparkles in their eyes.
Of course Stephanie said yes, and the fact that their engaged and planning a wedding gets me all teary, because no one deserves to have the perfect wedding more then this couple.
They have fought through so much. And been victorious. They have been obedient and patient, and for that they will be blessed. They have sought the Lord, and they have found Him. This is not the end of their journey, a happily ever after, but rather a victory of yet another battle, and a continuation of their journeys, but this time together, as one flesh, as man and wife.
This gets me excited! This is what marriage and relationships are really about.
I was so incredibly honored when they asked me to photograph their wedding is October. Weddings that honor Jesus about all else are my absolute favorite, and I am thrilled.
Walking down the isle is an act of worship, an act that one day the church will do when she is the bride. It is a holy act, full of power and meaning. It is saying I am yours, we will be joined together, we will be made as one, we will walk this life together.
My best advice I have for brides in the crazy engagement season is enjoy every. single. moment. Allow yourself to be celebrated. Have so much fun! And above all that, more then ever before, pursue Jesus with your whole entire heart. Take the time to spend with him, basking in his presence, learning more about him. Remember, after your married, it won’t be just you and Jesus anymore, it will be you, him, and your man.
I remember the evening before my wedding, I was spending time with the Lord, and writing in my journal, and I felt Him say, “Ash, I’m going to miss you.” Of course I was like, “What do you mean you’re going to miss me? I’m not going anywhere.” Then it dawned on me, every night before I would go to bed, I would spend talking with Jesus until I fell asleep, as a married woman, I would spend that time with my husband.
I started to cry, because in my excitement and hurry to get married, I didn’t treasure those precious precious nights like I could’ve. Like I should’ve. Marriage is a wonderful wonderful thing, but being single is truly a precious time, a time of deep intimacy with the Father.
Don’t get me wrong, intimacy with the Father doesn’t stop. It deepens, but there is a season that ends, a chapter that closes, after you get married. So brides, my biggest piece of advice is pursue the Father like never before in you’re engagement season.
I write all this on here because I know, without a shadow of a doubt that Levi and Stephanie are a Kingdom Couple. A couple that will do big things. A couple that will pursue. That won’t quit. That will go beyond the norm. A couple that is not afraid to dream. To think big. A couple that loves big. They love each other, and others so well.
I cannot wait to see what is in store for them!
You guys are awesome! I’m (again) so honored to be able to capture your story! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
xoxo
-Ash