Beautiful times, beautiful people

 Well, it's been almost three months since I last blogged. Which means this post has roughly three times more photos than usual. Apologies, but life ya know. I thought I'd begin by sharing some photos from my most recent photo shoots, then sharing some other photos from the past few months, and then finishing by talking some on what I've been learning over the past few months. I hope y'all enjoy this super long post!

My first photoshoot in December was of the Larson family. 

They were so easy, and fun to take photos of. 

 Maggie.

Such love.

 Christmas is pretty great, according to Ellie.

My second photoshoot was of the Johnson family. I've seen them go from courting, to engaged, to married, to having one little boy, to two now! they are so precious, and I enjoyed taking their photos!

 Baby William.

 Nathan has such a cute smile!

 I took a few photos of McKenna and Kaylee in December too. 

They are always so gracious to allow me to practice on them!

 I love these two. 

 I also had the privilege of taking photos for the Mathison family. 

 My latest photoshoot was of the entire Van Meggelen family. 

There are sixteen of them altogether, and they are quite the fun group!

 The Booher family.

 The girls.

 The Van Meggelens. 

Mr. and Mrs. Van Meggelen.

 Mr. and Mrs. Haley

 Mr. and Mrs. Van Meggelen with their two youngest grandchildren.

 Oma.

Life doesn't slow down, and so I'm trying to capture parts of it that I want to remember. These next photos are from the past few crazy months of living this insanely wonderful life.

 McKenna and Kaylee are my rock. They are the truest, and most loyal, and life with them is a joy.

 The beach is basically my home.

 Ocean air. 

 These sisters. 

 At the beginning of November I went on a very spontaneous trip up to Virginia. 

I had so missed seeing the fall leaves, but I especially missed all of the people that I grew up with. Virginia has my heart.

Poem Ponce.

 Mendota, Virginia. Where I have some of my best memories.

 Alayna, Emma, Ciara, and Lauren. 

We went on a hike in the freezing cold, all for an amazing view. Totally worth it. 

 Lauren Hope. She's so dear to my heart.

 My time in Virginia was such a joy. 

 Reilly, Erin Claire, and Dono. 

 Lovely places.

Basically my fall semester at RBC in one photo. 

 I don't take these two for granted. They're pretty special.

 Maili and Erin Claire. Troublemakers.

 I really love them an awful lot. 

 Mable. She's one of the cutest.

New mercies.

We went up to Pennsylvania for Christmas. 

It was great to experience winter, spend time with my family, and see where my dad grew up.

 Maili Ailsa.

 So thankful for Dad.

 Small town life. I love it.

 Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

 Reilly J.

Donovan Deaun.

 

He's a great kid. He really is.

 Pittsburgh.

Sisters.

 He has my heart.

 She's going to be thirteen in a few weeks. Time needs to slow down.

 One of the best experiences of our trip was getting to go skiing with Reilly. 

What an adventure, and what stories we have!

 The bunny slope. We're not exactly professionals or anything.

 December skies.

 What a champ. We fell down more times than I can count, but at least we had a good time.

Narnia.

 I'm so proud of Maili's budding artistic abilities! she's amazing!

 Pennsylvania sunsets.

 These two.

Ice-skating victories.

 My loves.

 We drove down to Maryland at the end of our trip for Campbell's wedding, 

and we got to go to Washington, DC!

 The Potomac River.

 Travels with Dono.

 Sisters. 

The Washington Monument.

 We probably walked at least five miles in DC. And it was freezing. But it was fun.

 January 2nd, 2015. My big brother Campbell got married!

 They're really precious.

 And happy.

 And did I mention precious?

 These are my people.

Donovan was Campbell's ringbearer.

 Some of the classiest men around.

 Oh McKenna Riley. She's sunshine in my life.

 The little bros. We have good times.

All smiles.

I recently read a book called "The Hardest Peace" by Kara Tippetts. This woman has been through a lot, and is now dying of cancer. She's only in her thirties, and she has four young kids. Her book was absolutely beautiful. She spoke so much truth into my own hurt and pain. I'm not going to lie, the past few months have been especially hard without Mom. With both Darby and Campbell recently married, I'm now the oldest at home, and that's brought a lot of new changes and responsibilities. All while trying to balance taking classes at RBC. God has been so gracious though, and has taught me a lot throughout the craziness. And through reading this book, and trying to grow in Jesus, I've learned a lot about love, joy, and peace. God has been teaching me what it means to love someone. The word "love" gets thrown around a lot. It sounds cliche, and a lot of people don't even understand what it really entails. When I was reading Kara's book, it finally really clicked for me. She's seeking to live her last days as intentionally, earnestly, and fully as possible. She recognizes that each day is a gift from God, and each person that He has placed in her life is a gift from God. She is trying to soak in the beauty of it all, before she's called home. Kara sees God's grace in the midst of life's hardest. That is something that I want to learn, and live. Yes, life seriously sucks sometimes. But it's also remarkably beautiful. Yes, relationships are messy and hard. But these are people who bear the image of God. They are unique, and wonderful, and beautiful. I want to love the heck out of my people in the time that I have. These years fly by. Life changes so quickly, but I have the here and now. I get to love these people. I'm really, really trying to love more deeply. To recognize God's grace in my life, and in the lives of those around me. Kara puts it well when she says "Grace is worth the effort. Grace is worth the hurt, the wondering at every single day. Grace is the gift of love I cannot earn." God loved us, and so we love those around us. We get past our differences to see the beauty together. We get to those rockbottom days, and we thank God for His hand through it all. That's why I love photography so much. Because I'm capturing these moments, with these people who I hold so dear. It's a broken, hurting, sinful world, but we are His, He has won, and our lives ought to reflect that truth. 

Friends, thanks for listening to me ramble. Thank you for reading my ridiculously long blogpost (if you made it through). Remember to appreciate the beauty of life. 

Much love, Delaney Mara

"The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing--to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from... my country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back."~C.S. Lewis