Zack and Teresa contacted me a little before they were coming to town to take photos of their sweet little family. These are the first family pictures they have taken together and it was little Gwen's first time to the beach! Well, the ocean/gulf beach that is. So they wanted to celebrate and wanted me to do them! We all went to school together in Ohio. It's so nice when Ohio meets Florida or the other way around. Both are considered home for me and I love when the two mix!
Little did we all know that the SS Irma would be making her maiden voyage through town right when they were going to be here... Things got so crazy! We had our sunset session on Tuesday evening, and by Thursday and Friday their hotel in St Pete was evacuating everyone who wasn't a Florida resident! Thankfully they were able to fly out Friday before the storm finally hit our area.
So while Irma was intimidating and a little terrifying to a non-Florida resident as I'm sure it was, they made it home safe and sound and God spared our little slice of Heaven for the most part, leaving lots of people without power but much safer than originally anticipated. As our pastor was reminding us this morning, hurricanes can actually serve a purpose and help contribute to a healthy planet. While they sometimes leave devastation and a lot of people in crazy heat without power for weeks, hurricanes also help us in a variety of other ways. They bring moisture to droit-stricken areas, they can help break up bacteria and red tides, they help maintain the balance in heat in the tropical waters by taking up the warm water and leaving colder ocean waters in its place, they help replant seeds in areas that otherwise wouldn't get them without the wind taking them there, and a variety of other things. God can use anything for good.
So please, after all the insanity that was this past week trying to get our lives back in order, take a moment to look at a few of my favorites of this beautiful little family <3
