Life + Updates from Jason + Heather of Revival Photography
Today marks 1 month since we officially moved out of our very 1st home. We've been staying with our dear friends for the last month until the house we are moving into is ready.
...as I think back over everything that has happened in the last month in our lives and I am just amazed at all of the changes, the ups the downs, and everything we have come through.
I feel like I owe you guys an update! lol So here goes...
1 month ago we packed up and moved out of our house and into our friends basement living area.... I had so many different emotions going on - bittersweet... bitter because we were leaving the only home we have ever known together, and sweet because we had been trying to sell our place for so long and the day had finally come. As I drove away with Frederic in the car with me, headed to our next stop for a few weeks, I have to admit I teared up a little bit...
I cannot tell you how amazing our friends are, to let us bring ALL of our boxes of stuff and all of our office set up, our whole house into their basement to live until our house is ready to move into...
(As you can see, our kitty cat, Frederic is enjoying the boxes)
We've also been very involved in the launch of a new Volunteer Program at our church this past month, including a video talking about the impact of volunteerism on our lives...
And soon after that we officially sold our house, which was such a huge relief!
While our house is being finished up for us to move into, we got to go ahead and put in our raised bed! Tomatoes, lettuce, all kinds of peppers, cucumbers...
Jason put in a DIY fire pit too!
So the photos of the house will come in a week or so, you guys will have to stay tuned for those photos :) We are SO beyond excited to share. We are going to be renting for a little while, until we figure out exactly where we want to go from here, but in the meantime, this little rental house is going to be so amazing, and so perfect for this season of our lives. Before we move in, the owners are renovating it, and it's going to be absolutely amazing.... :)
The same day that we officially closed on our house, we left for Charleston to photograph a wedding there that weekend. A nightmare situation happened on the Friday night that we arrived....
It was one of those moments where you run around the room in shock for a couple minutes, just trying to figure out what just happened, did it really just happen, are we awake right now? How are we going to shoot the wedding the next day without ANY photography gear. They took everything we brought with us. It was 11:00 PM at night and we didn't know how in the would we would be able to get the gear we needed to shoot the wedding, and in the way we would always shoot the wedding.
That's when we reached out to our closest people and asked for prayer, urgent prayer...
...then Mike from Shoot Rentals in Charleston texted us back at like 12:30 AM that morning when we txt him on the rental emergency line.... UNHEARD of! We would have never expected that. He told us that we would be able to rent from him, whatever we would need to photograph the wedding that day, and that we could meet him early that morning to pick up the equipment. Because of this, knowing this.... we were actually able to sleep that night to rest up for the next day. A miracle.
“I just want to let you all know how moved we have been by all of your prayers, all of your help, all of your encouragement... In spite of this horrible situation, God has made a way for us to do what we need to do today, we have the gear that we need to shoot the wedding today, and above all we have peace. We are so filled with peace and with positivity, and we feel so loved by everyone that this day is going to be even better than it would have been if our gear hadn’t have been taken from us. Thank you all! Keep praying for us today! ”
We were so filled with peace, surrounded in love, prayers, and hope, that we had absolutely no room for rage, bitterness.... I feel like we floated home that Sunday afternoon. We were being carried through.
The last week and a half has been non-stop insurance stuff, dealing with the police, paperwork, and it's been a whole new kind of battle. Each time we hit our limit, we've felt lifted up again and again. We're taking everything one step at a time, figuring out where to go from here, how we are going to start building back our gear to make sure we are able to do the same quality of work as before.
A couple of days ago some friends of ours started a GoFundMe for us to help us get back on our feet until we find out what insurance will cover (which won't be close to everything, unfortunately)
.... words cannot express our gratitude and how moved we are as we go through and look at all of these donations and notes. So overwhelmed with feeling so blessed and cared for. Thank you so much for everything. According to Gofundme, there has been 278 shares. This is just unreal to us!
We have had so many people reach out to us for help and and encouragement. Your prayers, your encouragement, your concern, your messages, calls, txts... your love has helped to carry us through this, and we are so beyond grateful and constantly amazed at the peace we are experiencing.
We're going to get through this, and come out of it much stronger than before.
We appreciate you all more than we could ever say. Thank you, with our whole hearts!
xoxo
Jason + Heather