Oh, friends, where do we even start with these two?! Zach and Jody Gray are so special to us. We’ve been so incredibly blessed by their friendship.
The Grays were the ones who taught us how to use our gifts to truly love and serve others in this industry. They showed us through their words, but more importantly, their actions, that putting others first should always be our first instinct. No matter who. No matter what. That we should find out and focus on what we can do for other people, not what they can do for us. That we should make it our goal to build so many other people’s businesses that we put ourselves out of business. And to never forget to be proud of where we come from and point to the God we love.
Everything they encourage us to do for everyone else, they have also done for us. Selflessly. Without reservation, hesitation, any kind of quid pro quo or question asked. They’re constantly encouraging us, teaching us, challenging us and cheering us on. It’s discipleship at its purest. At its best. They continually pour into us, and it’s because of people like them that we’re able to pour into others with all our hearts.
They were really the ones who made us believe that there was room for two more photographers in Phoenix when we didn’t think there was; and then they were the ones who encouraged us that there was room for two more educators on a national level when we thought that level just didn’t need us; and our life has been changed forever, in large part, thanks to them, because they’ve never believed that success was for the chosen few. They’ve always believed that’s it for those who choose.
And without them and others who lit lanterns along our road or stoked the fire within us along the way, we might still be working a day job instead of living our dream.
How do you even begin to thank someone for that?
We’ve realized the best way we can is by paying it forward. By being a latern-lighter and a fire-stoker, too. So that, together, we can change more lives for the better.
Last week, they invited us to their home with an incredible group of photographers for the #GraySummit2015, and we were just so honored to be a part of it! We honestly weren’t sure how we even got in that room, because the other people in it are doing such amazing things and left us feeling so inspired. The Grays, along with their good friend and best-selling author, Jeff Goins, spent the week pouring into all of us, and teaching us how to most effectively impact as many people as possible. The coolest part of the summit was that we also got to learn so much from all the other people in the room, and by the end of each day, our minds felt like they had melted from all the wisdom. We left refreshed and recharged to do things we’ve never done before in order to help as many people as possible in the coming year. We are so excited!
There are few things we can give two people who’ve given us so much already, but we wanted to do a little something to thank them, so we teamed up with our dear friend Katelyn James to shoot a quick, impromptu come-together-style family mini-session in anticipation of their first daughter who’s set to arrive early this fall! We were battling some pretty intense humidity (our lenses fogged up over and over again!) and a quickly setting sun, but these three are so cute together, that we were still able to grab so many great shots in a super short amount of time! It’s always so fun to see how two different photographers shoot the same thing! We, of course, LOVE Katelyn’s gorgeous photos!
It was so special to get these three back in front of the camera again. You might remember the first family photos we shot of this adorable trio last year (you can see that here!) or the HUGE canvas that now hangs in their front room! Jax was only six months old then, and he’s even cuter now than he was then (which we weren’t sure was even possible!) We can’t wait to see him become a big brother, and are so excited to welcome Baby Girl Gray into the world in just a few short months!
Zach and Jody, you’ll never know the size and scale of the impact you’ve made on our life, because you’ll never see all the ripples or all of its fruit, and neither will we, but just know that it’s a lot, and it matters, and it’s never going to stop.
See last year’s photos of Zach, Jody and Jaxon here!