So we met up at Grand Bay outside of Valdosta, and made the magic happen.

I met them through a previous bride, Valerie, and these two have been such an amazingly sweet couple! I can’t wait for tomorrow!

I just finished day 1 of the book, and I’m so excited because the main idea behind the book is to step back and let God be in control of your business, to have God as the CEO of your company, and to wake up each morning and talk to him, and seek his face, and let him lead you in the path for your business that He has for you, rather than trying to stumble though on your own.

One of the things that has been pressing on my heart as of lately is to be an encourager. I don’t speak alot on being a Christian, or about my faith on my blog, and I’d like to say I have a good reason for it, but I don’t… It’s not that I’m ashamed, but I do feel alot of times when it comes down to it, I shy away from it, when in fact it is the one thing I should take a stand for and be bold about.

That’s why I want to stand up, and stand out when it comes to my relationship with the Lord. I have a great friend from Nashville, TN. by the name of Dusty Wells, and there are so many mornings I wake up feeling like crud and open Facebook to find an encouraging post from him. Things like this…

“I love that we get to start all over again every day! “His mercies are new every morning’. We choose to take a look at all before us, behind us, and then re-focus once again….and then “stir it up”! I am going to do that!! Yup I am…. : )”

“Go for it today friends…dream big…chase it strong…pursue with passion and be persistent in all you are entrusted with! Passionate persistance does pay off! I am smilin’!”

“He is always faithful and always on time!”

“I believe in holding onto dreams and chasing them with passionate persistence…“

Those are just a few of his quotes from the last few days.

I’ve realized that there are so many people that are quick to say something negative, to use facebook, or whatever to ‘complain’ or ‘let their opinion be known’ but from now on I’m deciding to use whatever platform God has given me to be an Encouragement to all those around me, to shine a light into the darkness, to be bold about what I believe, to use my gift to minister to those in need, and to help in anyway that I can.

Over the next 40 days, I would love for you to join in with me, and set a goal to spread positivity to those around you. Share something encouraging each day instead of complaining, and when you see someone that’s down and out, reach out to them, and tell them how much God loves them. Not only will it change you for the better, but it will build up those around you, and the effect will spread like wildfire.

So let’s get started, find someone to encourage today! I challenge you to try it and see what a difference it makes! I would love to hear how it works for you! Leave a comment or send me an email, (shain@shainpetty.com) and let me know what an impact it has for you

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week, and an awesome weekend!

keep smiling!

Shain

]]> http://shainpetty.com/my-heart/feed/ 0 http://shainpetty.com/baby-beckham-newborn-portraits/ http://shainpetty.com/baby-beckham-newborn-portraits/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:57:41 +0000 shain http://www.shainpetty.com/?p=625  

Well, this year I pledge to do better and over the next few weeks I’m going to catch up and try to show most of the amazing shoots and things I’ve been doing over the last couple of months

The Clark Family is starting off that list, and here is why.

They are AWESOME!!!!

These people are some of the coolest that you will ever meet. I shot Cassie and Patrick’s wedding –> Cassie and Patrick’s Wedding. That’s when I fell in love with this family, since then I’ve done photos for different things for them, but at the end of the summer I finally got to shoot the whole entire family together! I love family portraits, and especially families that are as crazy and fun as these guys!

The day we did this shoot, was the last day their oldest daughter and her family would be in town, and she was moving a few states away, so we had to do it this day, only it kept raining on and off all day, so by the time we started that afternoon the humidity was at 110%, it was probably 110 degrees, and even though you live in South Georgia all your life, I promise, you never get accustomed to it!

So despite the heat, and the humidity so thick you could almost swim through it, these guys did what families do, they came together and laughed and cut up and had such a crazy good time… Here are some of my most favorite shots from that day