Florence, SC Family Photographer: With a little Help from our friends…

*Edit: This post was written Monday night! Posting it today anyway. =)

Today has been an AMAZING day. Not gonna lie, a lot of our sessions looked like this today:

Not sure what it was, but a lot of little Florence Cuties woke up in a MOOD this morning. You know what, though? It all worked out. As I heard Collin praying with Mak before bed tonight: “Thank you, Lord, that you knew how much time we would need with each session today, and you gave us that time.” HE is so involved in the details. I was reminded so many times today of how much God loves me and how He wants to take care of me. Day 2 of the 2011 Christmas season at Collin M. Smith Portrait Photography was a success! Thank you, Lord!

This morning while I was fixing oatmeal for Mak and Clara Beth I heard a rap at the door. What in the world?! It was much earlier than I was expecting anyone. I was still in my pajamas and had only had my first cup of coffee. Most people know that I am not fit to be spoken to until well into my second cup. You know who it was? The father of one of my very best friends, Jessica, who had come by to fix the bearings (I have no idea what that is?!?) on our camper. I wanted to cry. The camper has been sitting in our front yard since we got home from Disney because the bearings were bad. This is all foreign to me, but I do know that it means that we couldn’t move it. Collin could fix it, but see, this happened at the WORST possible time. The time when Collin has NO free time because the studio is insane. Charlie to the rescue! He and Brandon spent the better part of their day in our front yard fixing something that we couldn’t fix right now. That is a true friend. Charlie let Mak hang out with him all morning and I have to say that today probably ranked up there in the top 10 days of Mak’s life up to this point. He loves working with his hands and fixing things, and I’m so glad that he got a real life lesson in that today. He also got a real life lesson in what being a friend is all about. He learned things today that I hope he carries with him forever.

HaHa, Sawyer…this next one is the reality of how we spent most of this session.

And then later this afternoon. We had a session with Carter and Avery, the kids of clients who have turned into very good friends. The session went GREAT and, as always, we had fun chatting and hanging out. About an hour later, as we were waiting on our last session of the day to arrive, there was another knock at the door. I went to open the door, and there was Kelly (Carter and Avery’s mom), standing on my front steps with two pizzas and a box of cinnamon breadsticks from Dominoes. SERIOUSLY?!?! For the second time that day, I wanted to burst into tears. The Lord has provided us with AMAZING friendships. People who see a need and meet it out of the goodness of their heart. Kelly knew that, more than likely, tonight our kids would have another rushed meal. She took care of supper for us, and as a result, there was time for a board game and a card game with Mak and CB before bed.

Today our friends have REALLY made us think about giving. I need to do a better job of meeting a need when I see it. Even if I think it’s a small thing, it may mean the world to the person on the receiving end. I need my children to see that that’s what friendship is all about. Brandon and Jessica, Charlie and Marilyn, Kelly and Aaron have all done this for us today. I am overcome with gratitude for them. And to the one who placed them in our lives. Thank you, Friends! You truly made my day!