I have been working on this post for over two months now but it never felt “done.” I shared it with my friend during our weekly devotional breakfast and I finally feel like I was able to nail down exactly what I wanted to share today and I hope you will hear me out.
My faith has always been an important part of my life but until recently it was never a defining thing. For years I just let the title of “Christian” be simply that – a title. If you asked my about my faith I had no problem telling you my testimony but it wasn’t something I offered up first.
My faith wasn’t my, shall we call it, public priority.
With all that is going on in the media, I really felt compelled to write a short note to my clients, friends, and family on why my relationship with my Savior drives every aspect of my business. Please don’t stop reading because you think I am going to try and hit you over the head with a Bible, I promise you I won’t. Just hear me out.
First, through Him, I am abundantly blessed beyond my deserving. I am not speaking solely on a business standpoint but my personal life as well. I am blessed with an extremely supportive family (my mom bought me my first two SLRs!), a hard working husband who through his sacrifice allows me to be a photographer and stay-at-home mom, and the countless friends who trust me with their memories. I have been blessed to be in business since 2008. Not all years have been ideal in the profit department but I have been blessed with hundreds of amazing clients and to be apart of their story.
Secondly, having a relationship with my Savior makes two things priorities in my business and life —
“Jesus replies, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
I love my God and I love my neighbors.
I feel like being labeled a “Christian” is a dirty word in the secular world, and while I can’t change the minds of everyone, I certainly want to always love my neighbors. One of the best thing I can do as a Christian in the eyes of a non-believer is to love them.
You see, my Savior did everything in love. He healed the sick, He fed the hungry, He reached out to the socially outcast & unwanted, He died for the ungodly and unrighteous – meaning everyone. He showed with open arms compassion and kindness. To everyone.
As a Christian business owner, my number one goal is to show others a Christ-like love and attitude and to come from a place compassion and not condemnation. You can show someone love without approving of what they do. So while I may not agree with my non-Christian counterparts, I also recognize that we all have sin in our lives and we are still worth God’s love.
Do I fail? Yes. Do I let ego get the best of me? Sometimes. But through it all I want to make sure across the board my clients know two things:
- I am Believer, a follower of Christ.
- I love you and it would be an honor to serve you.
So when you see that I am a follower of Christ, please know that while I may not agree with or accept certain aspects of your life, you will not receive any judgment or condemnation from me based on your past, race, religion, gender, age, income class, or lifestyle. I have not turned away a client based on any of these things, and I will continue loving and serving my clients.
If you work with me, you will receive rad photos and a new cheerleader on sidelines.
(Here is a pretty photo from the mission trip I went on last July to Alaska!)
“If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:9-10
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