Guidepost Photo Shoot

So this happened Sunday.

Our family is being featured in Guidepost magazine in January.

Why us?

I know a guy who knows a guy.

Actually, I know a mom-author who writes for their magazine.

With two million subscribers–Guidepost is the largest Christian magazine in the world. If you’re a writer interested in a tagline beneath one of their articles–think again. Guidepost magazine hires their own writing staff. If you’re feeling lucky, every other year they have a contest for wannabee writers and the winner is whisked away to their headquarters in New York to learn how to write for them.

I know Marci Seither–a gifted two-time winner of this contest. She’s written for newspapers for years and writes books, too. Marci was pitching story ideas and our family’s radical sabbatical struck a cord with their editors.

The captivity of activity.

Burdened by busyness.

They get me.

So, their people contacted my people.

Definition–Guidepost contacted their amazing photographer in Nashville and she set up a date to stop by and snap some shots.

We took our radical sabbatical when our kids were this old.

 

Now, they’re this old, plus Robert.  My future son-in-law.

I realized quickly, while “acting natural” that trying to get a great shot of our family is like trying to suck a watermelon through a crazy straw.

Please notice below my oldest and my youngest on the top of the couch. At the request of the talented Tamara, Samuel is now barefoot. Meghan is saying, “Keep those feet away from me.”

To which Paul is then saying, “Did you take a shower with your feet outside of the shower?”

All the while, David is warning Meghan, “Watch where you’re putting your feet if you’d like nieces and nephews someday.”

Us acting natural. 

I wish I’d worn a solid colored blouse. I ran around yelling telling everyone to wear solid colors and forgot to put on a solid color myself. Trust me when I say the pictures I’ve seen make me look like a fat frog. I shared this frustration the next day with Paul. He wasn’t very sympathetic.

“Are you kidding. Do you know how many people would LOVE professional photographers from Guidepost in their home taking a photo of them in a crappy blouse?”

Mental note: no more fat-frog-jokes…around Paul, anyway. 

The same frustrations I felt with young children were felt even more strongly with adult kids. I had to refrain from pinching them. Not that I did that when they were little—okay, maybe I did that once or twice. They heckled each other to no end. Which I think just might make these pictures pretty cool. And, our pooch Dixie jumped into the shots. She not only didn’t complain–she acted natural the whole time.

Later, when everyone had left and once I’d stopped thinking about my unfavorite ensemble, I couldn’t help but see the big picture.

God uses our gifts. God uses our stories.

Our radical sabbatical was the inspiration for my first book. In the writing world a nonfiction book has a shelf life of only two or three years. But, God doesn’t work within those boundaries. He created time so He’s not limited by it. He can shine a light on anything whenever He chooses.

As imperfect or as unaccomplished as you may feel–He loves to use people just like us.