Sometimes in this profession I am truly blessed. Yes, I love being able to share in special moments in the lives of my clients, but the session I am sharing today may have been the one I have been most blessed by to date. I am reminded of this passage, and try to live my life accordingly.
1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. --Matthew 6:1-4
I share this session not to boast of my own works, but to share an act of love and kindness that truly touched me.
I was contacted in the fall by a friend. She contacted me regarding another friend of hers, Amy. Not a friend that I knew, but a lady that I had heard mention of from other friends. Amy had been diagnosed with cancer, and was scheduled to begin chemotherapy the following week. Our mutual friend told me that it was her wish for Amy and her family to be able to have family portraits done before Amy began her chemo. She knew that within the next 1-2 weeks, Amy would be losing her hair from the treatments. She asked me if there was anyway I could work them in that weekend. It was very important to her that Amy not know who had arranged for the session.
I had urban Christmas mini-sessions scheduled for that Saturday. I had completely booked all the spaces I had allowed, but I thought that I would have time to do one more session after the last one I had scheduled. Our mutual friend said that she would pay the session fee, and Amy could then just order the photos she wanted. Touched by the kindness of our mutual friend and thankful for the opportunity to do something good for someone else, I told her that I would do the session at no charge. She could then put her part towards a product credit for Amy.
I got Amy's phone number and called her with the good news. Luckily, the time worked for her family, so that Saturday afternoon after my last Christmas session we met for the first time.
As we walked and talked it was obvious that Amy's children adore her. It is easy to see why. She is a stay-at-home mom and she home schools. Family is very important to her.
After our session I ran into another one of Amy's friends. She told me that she had heard about their session and wanted to also make an anonymous donation towards Amy's product credit. Wow. I was touched again. Even though I had only recently met Amy, I knew that she must be a very special person for these ladies to want to do this for her.
It did my heart good just to see the love that they had for their friend. They asked me to help them do something for a friend. Something that would bless their friend. I in the end was just as blessed as anyone involved. So very blessed to have gotten to be a witness to such love, kindness and friendship.
