Happy Armed Forces Day!! This day is very dear to me as I have a good handful of close friends and family currently serving and plenty who have served in the past. I thought this might be the perfect day for this post. Meet the Lowthorp family!! They were adorable, playful and up for an adventure. I met them through church when I donated a portrait session for a Women's conference and it was gifted to Pam, an Officer's Wife. We tried to get a session on the calendar multiple times, but between weather, vacations and life, they kept getting postponed, but I believe it for all worked out for the best. When we were able to get a date on the calendar, it was just weeks away from when her son, Ty, was leaving for the Navy.
I asked Pam to share a little about their journey: "I was gifted this session from the Celebration Church Radiant Conference last year & so thankful for Christina’s gracious gift! I LOVE having our family photos taken and try to squeeze it in, at least every couple of years. She took us to a great little “hidden” entrance on Lake Georgetown for our session. It was quite the adventure! I love this location not only because of the beautiful scenery but because all the memories when we brought the kids to the lake to fish and swim. This was our “last” childhood family photo before Ty, our first born, would leave home and join the U.S. Navy. He graduated High School in 2017 and when we asked him why the military, he said "he just felt like that’s what he was supposed to do." We always pray for our kids to have God driven direction, so I really couldn’t argue with his answer! I did ask him if maybe he misheard, because ministry and military almost sound the same. Haha! He left for bootcamp about 3 weeks after this session, he graduated in January and is now on the USS Essex. He will leave on his first deployment this summer. I asked for a variety of poses as a family and siblings but one of my favorites, is the one of us praying. Our faith and trust in God has always been the foundation for our family. Prayer for our boy & our family during this transition has been essential to this Momma's sanity! The peace God has covered my heart with, is unexplainable! I will miss him, a lot. I get frustrated when I can’t make all the plans, in my timing, but my peace is always in place. He was home for Easter, for the first time since November. We had him for five, family and friend packed days. I cried a very loud, ugly cry when he boarded his flight, but through the tears, and loud sobbing, my peace remains. I fully trust God to take care of him, no matter where this adventure takes him. Still praying for God driven direction! Christina, thank you for capturing the love we hold for each other. We will treasure these more than you will ever know! So thankful God brought you all the way to Texas!!!"
It was an absolute pleasure capturing these memories for this family. I wish I could do it for so many other families I know and love that have family members in the military, but they are too far away. Military family are near and dear to my heart. The sacrifice they all endure, I wish I could do more. If you know a military family in need of portraits, I would love to be apart of their story.
