capturing our blessings :: an invitation

For the past two years my sister in-law, Kristen and I have joined together each November to pause and reflect during the season of Thanksgiving and seek out nuggets of blessing and beauty each day behind the lens. The project is called, Capturing our Blessings and it has truly become an annual ritual I look forward to. It's simple, we take one picture a day of something we are thankful for. Kristen emails her photo to me without seeing each others first and I post them side by side as a diptych - as one seamless image of blessing.

This year Kristen suggested that we invite our two sisters in-law to join us as it has been quite a full year of gifts for each one of us individually and as a family. 

I don't often share personal information about my extended family here but many of you know that my husband, Chris has three brothers and all of their wives are truly some of my closest friends. In 2012 each of us has welcomed a new baby into the family - being pregnant side by side has been an incredible experience and one of the reasons I am sure that God intended our own family to grow even when it was not yet on our hearts. 

So in May our family welcomed Zeb. In June, Rachel and Bryan welcomed John a baby brother for their sweet two year old Amelia. In July, Kristen and Kyle welcomed baby Luke their third beautiful boy along with Evan and Miles! And then just last Thursday Jenny and Jeff along with big brother Wesley finally got to meet their sweet daughter Elliot. A baby they have longed and prayed for the past few years. She is perfect, they all are and truly some of the greatest blessings we have ever received.

So this year we will carry on the tradition of finding beauty in the ordinary, similarly to the Ten on Ten project but once a day and will be sharing those images here with you. Side by side a set of sisters, friends, mothers, wives. Our lives are full and blessed and we all long to keep that at the forefront of our minds and hearts as we enter the season of Thanksgiving and Advent.

We also want to invite you along as well to capture your own blessings and post them on your blog, facebook, instagram - really wherever you choose and reflect on the sweet things that you have been blessed with too!

The project will begin this Thursday, November 1st and will carry on throughout the entire month. I hope you will consider joining us in some way, reflecting on how blessed we all truly are!

The photos will always go in this order: Rachel, Jenny, Rebekah and Kristen to play along on Instagram use hashtag #capturingourblessings