the beauty.

praying, praying.

the lovely jen burgess thompson has begun the fight of her life … she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer last week, and the battle has begun.

some of you may *know* jen through the pictures she has captured of my girls over the years. they are of my most treasured possessions, and i often say a silent “thank you” to jen when i pass these images on the walls of my home. i honestly can’t remember how we met – only that i felt as if i had known her for years within the first 5 minutes of our initial meeting. that’s jen. she’s open, warm, full of life and light and beauty.

it’s not that we’ve spent that much time together. but to know jen even minimally is to know an incredibly talented, creative, honest, joyful, spiritual, strong and simply lovely woman.

i always smile when i see these particular pictures of the girls. jen drove from redmond to portland to capture stella at just a few days old – fresh from the womb. while you can’t imagine it from looking at these images, the day was just a s*** – storm. i was huge and flabby and leaking breast milk all over. stella, who up until this day had been relatively quiet and content, seemed to suddenly wake up and cried and pooped for 3 straight hours. piper, still reeling from her new role as big sister (and the realization that this new baby was here for good), was sassy and uncooperative, to say the least. i cried buckets when jen left, thinking that there wasn’t going to be one usable picture from the day.

but as always, jen looked through the lens of her camera and found the beauty. in the midst of all of the chaos and hormones and baby weight and tears and anxiety she saw only the hope and blessing and joy of that moment. i’m so grateful.

and in jen’s own current storm, she is continuing to see the beauty. she posted the following on FB the other day:

What if I didn’t discount this moment, but counted it for what it is? What if I accept this day as an opportunity, as a door to reason… to LOVE my way out…

isn’t she amazing?

please pray for jen. pray that she continues to see the beauty around her … in her sweet little boys, in her amazing circle of support, in the wisdom of her medical team, in herself. pray for continued FAITH and HOPE. pray for strength. pray for HEALING. pray as you feel led.

love you, jen. you amaze and inspire me.