Friday, September 21, 2012

God's Plan Is Better

I will admit life has been very difficult for me. I struggled to fit in for quite a while, my family endured a terrible tragedy four years ago that we are still healing from, and I also dealt with not feeling like I had a purpose in life. All those things played into my personality and my confidence level in serious ways throughout the years so dropping out of school didn't exactly leave me feeling good about myself.

A couple weeks after I left JMU, I hid from my neighbors, from friends, and I was even scared to go into stores. I was ashamed and I didn't want to hear people tell me I was making a mistake. I will say I did hear it from a select few and that was hard (and to be expected) but it also made me laugh because those people have not lived my life. You know? I've come to learn that I cannot judge people. I cannot. Until I know a person's background and story, I can't even begin to understand why they are the way they are and why they do the things they do.

So after getting over telling people that I came home, I told myself I was going to do what I felt called to do: photography. And if that didn't work out, so be it. Plan B would come into play. I started emailing photographers, asking if they would mentor me, and then began praying they'd email me back. I received an email from Sera Petras saying she'd love to meet with me and after having a wonderful meeting with her a couple weeks ago where we talked for two hours, I've been blessed with so many incredible opportunities that I couldn't have even dreamed up. I'm just thanking the Lord (and Sera) right about now because I thought I would only be working on a wedding every few months but I ended up getting to style assist for a Monticello Catalog shoot, as well as for Plow and Hearth! As an assistant, I just helped do anything that was needed but I got to hang out at catalog shoots every day this week and it has been great!! I never knew style assisting and photo assisting even existed and because of Sera, I've not only been exposed to a new side of photography, but I've learned so much about myself. I've learned I'm much more confident doing something I enjoy and something I understand. So whether I go back to school is undecided right now but I'm just enjoying all the excitement that has been thrown my way. God has a plan and it's amazing what he can do if you just trust him. 

I hope you all have had a fantastic week and if you haven't, just know that God has a plan!!! Here are all my pictures from this week. I didn't have my Mark II at all during the shoots but I did have my iPhone. :) So some of these are Instagrams, some are from VSCO Cam, and some are just iPhone shots! Enjoy!















6 comments:

  1. That is AWESOME i LOVE every WORD that you wrote!!!! God has an AMAZING PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE, BETTER THEN THE ONE YOU PLANED OUT. JUST KEEP HANNING ON. THERE MIGHT BE SOME UPS AND DOWNS BUT JUST KEEP ON TRUSTING GOD, BECAUSE BETTER THINGS WILL HAPPEN WHEN YOU TRUST GOD BETTER THEN YOUR SELF(TRUST ME)!!!! I LOVE ALL THE PICTURES!!!

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  2. Lovely. <3

    I'm so sorry about all this, and I know it must be really hard, but I am praying for you, as many others are, too, I'm sure.
    Don't forget that!

    xoxo,
    Rachel Nicole @ Summer Breeze

    rachyracheshobbycorner.blogspot.com

    ps- Jeremiah 29:11 ( I know everyone uses that one. ;) )
    Romans 8: 38-39

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  3. That is so true that God has a much bigger plan than we do! Keep trusting Him and He'll lead you.

    This is really encouraging to me because I'm seriously considering transferring from one college to another to save money and be closer to my family, and I'm trusting God to show me whether I should transfer. It's hard knowing what to do because I'll miss my friends at my current college but I don't feel at peace here and I think God might want me somewhere else.

    Praying for you,
    Jess <3

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  4. Hey Meredith, I'm sorry if I was being too nosy when I asked you about dropping out on Facebook. I just really like to hear people's stories about college, and one of the things I've learned from that is that college is definitely not for everyone! Your photography mentorship sounds amazing and I bet things will only get better from here :)

    Also, I can't believe these are all iPhone photos! WOW!

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    1. No, no, no!! You didn't bother me one bit! :) Promise. And thanks! I think it's going to be really good for me!

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  5. This post brings me so much joy, Mere. Love you. Praying always :)

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