We recently photographed one of the most meaningful maternity sessions of our entire career. Here’s why:
All Amanda ever wanted… was to be a mother. So she was heartbroken when she found out that she might not be able to have babies of her own. She and her husband, Kyle, wanted to pursue fertility treatment, but it was expensive. Around the same time, Amanda enrolled in our Shooting & Editing Course and sent us a testimonial video (3:27) unlike anything we’ve ever received, which is why it’s something we’ll never forget.
Here’s what she said:
“My husband and I are going through infertility, and because of this course, I can earn the money that we need in order to start our family… and that it something that is life changing. I can’t wait to be a mother, and it’s because of you that I could possibly have that chance.”
Hearing her words made us cry. When we first picked up the camera, we could’ve never predicted that God would take our love for photography (and teaching) and do more with it than we could’ve ever imagined in ways that are SO much bigger than we could ever take credit for. Neither one of us were prepared for the next message we’d get from her:
One year later, Amanda and Kyle sent us this…
The treatment she paid for with the money she earned from the course? IT WORKED. They’re pregnant! They’re going to be parents and meet their beautiful baby boy before Christmas. The thing they hoped and prayed for the most in the world is really happening. When they asked if they could fly from their home state of Georgia to us in Arizona so we could photograph their maternity session, we teared up all over again.
Amanda and Kyle, words cannot possibly (or adequately) express our happiness for you. We have enough friends who’ve faced infertility to know — at least in part — the daily sacrifice that comes with it, and the waves of emotion, positive and negative, that accompany it. And we know first-hand the sweetness of the joy that comes from seeing a second line turn pink. We’re only a year ahead of you in our parenting journey, but we’ve already learned one of life’s greatest and most beautiful paradoxes that we want to pass on to you…
Savor every minute. But it only gets better.
At the beginning of this process, like so many couples, you didn’t know the outcome. You knew you might get the deepest desire of your heart. You might not. The future, as far as human eyes could see, was uncertain.
Which brings us to one of life’s most important paradoxes.
At her wedding this summer, our friend Melissa Jill (a bride for the first time at 41) said something so profound that it bears repeating:
“All these years, I never questioned whether or not God could bring me a husband. I just wondered if He ever would.”
You two never questioned whether or not God could bring you a baby. You just wondered if He would. Or how He would. But you never lost faith. You never lost hope. You never lost love. You always trusted that His plan was best, even when that plan wasn’t your first choice. Our hope is that this precious miracle would be a reminder (to us all) to thank God for our answered prayers, and to pray for those who are still in a painful season of waiting for answers to theirs.
Amanda and Kyle, we love you both like Georgia loves peaches. Thank you for letting us capture this special season of your life. You’re going to be the best parents! Your son is one lucky little man. It’ll be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but the best thing you’ll ever do. Savor every minute. Soak up every moment. Because just when you think it can’t possibly get better, it does.
