update.

a breakdown of what i need to raise:
i've had to convert everything from euros, hence the random numbers.

flight -- $1100
application fee -- $78.95
lecture/dts phase -- $2447.37
min outreach during lecture/dts phase -- $197.37
outreach phase -- $1973.68 - $2631.58 (depending on which country i'm sent to)
shots, small supplies, train ticket, etc -- about $500

a grand total of
$6955.27ish

i've raised
$4229.52

i can't thank everybody enough for donating..
my heart is completely filled with joy and gratitude. 

through this whole process, the one thing i've been trying not to worry about is finances. i just keep thinking to myself  'God brought this onto my heart over a year ago and made everything happen this far, He will not stop now. the money will come
        the money will come
        the money will come'


over and over i would say this to myself. when others asked how much i still had yet to raise, i would say to them, "alot, but the money will come. God will provide, i know it."

well just yesterday, i was feeling maybe a little less sure about the money coming. everything had slowed down, and i've only recieved back about ten of the eighty support letters i sent out months ago. 


i sat there (in the Critter Cottage, yes!) and just prayed, 'God please let the money come, please please let me know the money will come'. 

i kid you not, within the next few hours, i received $400 from the most unexpected of donors. i literally did the whole 'hand-fly-over-the-mouth-big-gasp-and-stare' deal. 


as i was driving home, thinking about what just happened, i couldn't help but laugh. alot. because really, it just goes to show you that God has a sense of humor. how He brought such a random donation, at that time. good one, God. You got me. 


by the end of the day, i had received another humbling donation of $500. 
i'm overwhelmed with confidence the money will come, and in awe of the generosity that is around me.

i'm feeling the love. 

lately.

this summer has been very good to me.

Crystal + Girls

When Crystal contacted me about taking some candid portraits of her and her two beautiful daughters, I was really nervous about accepting since I had never really done a family style shoot. But, after months of looking at other photographer's portrait work that I really admire (ehem..Sarah Rhoads), I decided to put aside my fear and do it. It's the only way I'll ever be the photographer and the person I want to be, to push through the fear and do things that at first feel uncomfortable.

I'm so happy that I did, and c'mon, really, how cute is this family?

I really wanted to focus on capturing real moments between them, and am super pleased with how they turned out.

Enjoy the preview!

Loved the princess costumes! 

-Kelsey

The Garden.

So ever since I've started this blog, it drove me nuts that it messed with the colors of my photographs if I enlarged them. Well, ha! I figured it out. 

Turns out, internet explorer just sucks. I know that's not news to many of you, but I guess I having been living in the web browser stone age. Oops. 

But, now from my screen at the very least, my photos finally look correct. I'll just pretend they do for you too. 

Moving on....

I remember when I was just a little thing, and my parents decided it was time for a garden. Mom had dreams of it surrounded by white picket fences complete with a flower covered archway opening. Dad was determinded to make it happen.

And they did it.

Mom painted the fence every year before she lined it with sunflower bulbs, and dad (who built the archway himself) spent hours making sure everything in the garden was planted and ready.

They tried to get us girls to help, but well, that was a lost cause. 

Once the garden was past it's baby stages was when things really started to get interesting. 

I remember....

- running out to the garden on Sunday mornings before church, wanting to see if any new green peppers had grown for dad to put in his famous Sunday morning omellets. 

- searching through the thick leaves trying to find baby cucumbers, which i would pick and eat with a salt shaker in hand, making sure every bite had a little (er...alot) somethin' special.

- picking green beans as a family. this was the worst. but now, i miss it. 

-spending full summer days with my mom and sisters snipping the ends off hundreds of green beans.

we only agreed to do this because we'd get twenty bucks if we had the biggest green bean of the day. 

-squishing tomato worms under my flip flops. it was oddly satisfying. 

- biting into a fresh picked green bean. the pure taste of summer. 

-stealing the sprinkler that was watering the garden and putting it under the trampoline for some fun on hot summer days. 

- looking over the flowers that surrounded the white fence with mom, deciding which would be the best to make a "first day of school" bouquet for our new elementary school teachers. 

- the end of the season tomato fight. us girls and my dad would get as many unpicked tomatoes as we could, and have an all out war with them. we would all end up with stained outfits and hair full of tomato guts. dad would always chase us down and chuck us into the pool before we went inside the house.

..................

 life got hectic as my sisters and i grew older and the garden became just another thing on the to-do list.

the archway still stands, and when the time is right, mom makes sure to plant beautiful flowers along the fence. 

 but beyond the fence, there is no garden.

no more green beans. no more cucumbers. no corn or green pepper. no tomatoes, or tomato fights. 

and the flowers that get planted no longer are given in bouquets to teachers.

we're growing up.

 and although i have days where i'm feeling rather nostalgic, i can't be sad about it because i had the best childhood. 

i grew up surrounded by nature, and filled with love everyday. 

and that is only something to celebrate. 

 -Kelsey

Rainy Day Thoughts.

As I was getting ready early this morning, it hit me.

I mean, this is truth through and through everyday, but this morning, it really just hit me:

How great is our God?

Rewind.

At the end of this semester, I was really worried about finding a summer job. I didn't want to go back to Meijer after having been on student leave since August, and I was truly spoiled with my Lab Assistant gig in the photography department at GRCC. But, as school was ending, so was the job.

Randomly I decided I wanted to nanny/babysit this summer. Yet, I was worried about the consistency of it, and how much money I would actually make. But, oh hey, I'm now sitting consistently for not one, not two, but THREE families. Seriously, it's so cool.

Busy and hectic, but cool.

God Provides.

Later in the day today, after sitting for my third family for the first time (got that?), I came to do my weekly shift at the wonderfully amazing Critter Cottage which I've mentioned several times on the blog.

I arrive to find a huge (really, it's ginormous) beautiful cupcake and a card containing sweet notes to me and a $75 Meijer gift card. This all from the three leading ladies with Vicky's Pet Connection, as a graduation gift. REALLY?.....

How awesome are they?

It was such a sweet thing for them to do. I will miss the Critter Cottage and especially the amazing people that volunteer here dearly when I leave for ywam.

I can't tell you enough how much I love it at the CC, and it's not just the animals. The other people that make this place happen are astounding people, and I'm so blessed to know them. They make me feel like I'm changing the world just by running the CC for a few hours, and are some of the most genuine people you'll ever meet. I love them, and their hearts of gold.

.....

Update on ywam happenings.

The money is coming in very very slowly but surely. I've already purchased my plane ticket, which is AMAZING. But I'm still thousands away from reaching the goal. I have faith that God will provide, and I have plenty of time before I need it... I just need to keep reminding myself that God put this on my heart for a reason, and He will make this happen. I just have to keep doing my part, and not stress about it.

Note: If anybody has a cheap cheap (or FREE!) MacBook Pro in good working condition laying around, I would be more than happy to take it off your hands before September 1st. My Dell is seeing it's last months, and I really need a laptop while I'm away. A Mac is just what I need for photo editing and what not; a PC just won't cut it anymore.

Feel free to spread the word about that!

I wasn't going to include a photo with this post, but that just feels wrong.
This was taken during one of our many rainy spring days. Not that I'm complaining, I love them.

-Kelsey