there’s a verse that I love…

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13

That’s why I’m here. Because I have seen it– I have seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And I think you have, too– it’s everywhere. But sometimes, in the midst of heartache and loss and short paychecks and sick family members, it’s a little hard to recognize.

In Joshua 4, God has just performed a miracle to get the people through the Jordan River on dry ground, much like He did to get them through the Red Sea when they came out of Egypt. God told Joshua to have one man from each of the twelve tribes bring a rock and set them up on the other side of the Jordan as a monument, so that when their children asked them why the rocks were there, they’d tell them about what God had done for them. It was a monument to the goodness of God for generations to come, so no one would forget amidst the stress of life.

That’s why I love photography– there’s just something fulfilling about the act of capturing moments that will never be exactly the same again, moments that no one else will get a chance to witness in exactly the same way. But as they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” As each experience has the potential to carry with it lessons of wisdom beyond our own, each moment captured can teach us something that may never have crossed our minds otherwise. Every photograph you see here is mine– I see them as gifts from God to remind me of the things He’s brought me through and the blessings He’s led me to in the past, monuments of His love so I won’t forget how good He is.

I have two goals here:

• Be a witness to the goodness of the God I serve by telling of the things He’s done for me and my family
• Share images that have brought me peace, reminders of His love, and lessons of who He is

We all have different struggles and experiences, but I believe our struggles don’t have to be useless. I think that’s one of the areas His goodness gets easily overlooked– He says “when you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” (Isaiah 43:2) He doesn’t say He will always deliver us from every hardship, but He promises His Presence. He says He will be there with us. In that hospital room, in the courtroom, in the ditch we dig ourselves into by making wrong choice after wrong choice…He’s there. He suffers when we suffer. He’s willing and able to make beauty out of ashes…and sometimes that comes in the form of being able to share experiences and encourage each other when He leads us through and we come out on the other side.

So as you’re reading through posts and looking through photographs, I hope you can see it…His goodness is everywhere. My prayer is for you to come away from this site with eyes of faith, and a mind renewed in the ability to see the previously unseen. And if there’s anything praiseworthy to be seen while scrolling through these pages, I pray it’s nothing of my own– and entirely images of the love and mercy of my good, good God. ☸

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since you might be interested to know…

My name is Nicole– I’m a Chicago-suburb native living near Nashville with my husband Christian, our daughter Jocelyn, our three rescue dogs Casey, Bluey, and Ruby Tuesday, and our tiny flock of ducks. I’m an ICU nurse turned Kidney Transplant Coordinator turned full-time mommy, he troubleshoots corporate security systems and fire alarms, and we’re currently on a quest to see all the National Parks (So far we’ve seen 5. Of 58. We’re getting there, ok) I love music and photography, he loves cars and cooking (could actually have his own restaurant–I gained 15 pounds in a month after marrying him!) Most importantly we’re followers of Jesus Christ.

We fail Him daily, but He’s never failed us yet!

Christian and I have story after story of answered prayers, miraculous events, our own Red Sea crossings…stories of God’s leading and His faithfulness. Really, that’s the story of our lives–there’s nothing more to tell besides Christ and what He’s done for us. Every big change in life He has led, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. ☸