“For You Created My inmost Being” {Be Loved with Kristin}

by: Jenni Skibo

www.passionforlifephotography.net

“For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you that I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. “    –Psalm 139:13-15

How many times have you told yourself or allowed others to tell you lies about who you are?  Dress this way, do your hair/make-up that way, nip this, tuck that, enhance this, remove that, etc.  I bet the first things that flood your mind when you first look in the mirror each morning don’t include praising God for how he made you.  Maybe I’m projecting how I feel about myself, but perhaps it’s true for you too.  I personally have a difficult time looking in the mirror each morning and picking out an element that I believe to be beautiful.    As far back as I can remember, I have always believed myself to be socially awkward, too tall, too skinny, too dumb, too shy, etc.  I hated every mole and freckle on my body and couldn’t wait for the day that I could get a breast enhancement and lip reduction just so I could “fit in” with everyone around me.   The society we live in right now tells us how to appear – down to every last hair on your body.

But what does God say about you?

Above and beyond everything, God LOVES YOU and wants the best for you!  He thought of you, then created you and has hopes and dreams for your future.    Each piece and element to your personality and appearance is INTENTIONAL and SPECIAL – customized by God himself to help you be who He created you to be!   God loves you so much that when he made you he counted the hairs on your head!  He collects every tear you cry.   He thought about how to make you unique, different from the millions of others he created to live on this earth.

With that in mind, why would we ever believe the lies of the enemy?    If God thought of us individually and created us, and said we’re good, then why question it?  Why allow a tiny percentage of people dictate to us what is beautiful?  Truth is, we’re not supposed to look alike!   We’re part of the BODY of Christ, and created for a specific purpose – we can’t all be the hand, or eyes or feet.  We are each uniquely beautiful.  Instead of dwelling on what “should be or could be” with regards to our appearance or personality, lets strive to focus on how God sees us and how to live our lives to honor Him.   Instead of focusing our negative energy onto ourselves, let’s focus some positive energy on those around us.  Let’s face it, when we focus our attention on helping others, it’s amazing how quickly we forget to focus on our own “faults” and we start to feel that peace that passes understanding inside our souls.

We can do this through our photography, by posing our subjects in flattering ways and illuminating them with proper lighting.  We can create spaces for our subjects to relax and have fun during the session, causing them to forget that they’re tense/stressed/uncomfortable.  By leading our clients with a gentle hand and capturing their unique spirit and true expressions, we can create images they’ll love for a long time!

If you have a person that is sensitive about the amount of skin underneath their chin you can sit them down and have them look up to you, or any variation of that.  By lifting their face/chin, it all but eliminates the extra skin and creates a shadow.  You can also have them stand at a ¾ angle instead of straight on.  By turning their body a little, it has a natural slimming effect on their torso and it forces them to look over their shoulder a bit, which helps with the chin area too.  If you’ve got a family you’re photographing, you can place the children in front of the parent(s), thus hiding many of the “problem” areas altogether!   A lot of the sensitivities people that make them tense and uncomfortable can be reduced greatly if they’re relaxed and having fun, so you can do a little bit of homework ahead of the session time and customize their session to include an activity or place that they love and have fun in.

My hope for you is that you’re able to head out to your day with a renewed confidence that you are good enough, special, and loved for who you are by your Abba Father that loved you first!