She emailed me last minute to ask if I was available. As soon as I read the word adoption, I was all in.

Could I photograph the day these children became legally theirs? Yes. Could I be there to witness the moment when this family became a full unit? Yes. Would this 30 minutes be a vastly more emotional experience than I ever imagined? Yes.

I had no idea what to expect, but I knew that for those in the room… this day would never be forgotten.

Adoption is a messy beautiful thing.

Messy, because brokenness and pain and trauma come packaged together with hope and kindness and redemption.

Messy, because in order for one family to become whole, another must first be broken.

But among all that messiness - hope glimmers.

Hope for the future, hope for love, and hope because His plan is always perfect.

Jana and Dan, I can’t even begin to describe how much this meant to me. THANK YOU for including me, for trusting me, and for following the path God laid out for you. I have such a greater understanding of and appreciation for what family really means because of you. Praying God’s richest blessings for all seven of you in the days to come!

We have south facing windows in our living room.

In the summer, the sun shines outside the windows and sends its warm rays to our front porch.

In the winter, the sun sneaks further inside to our living room and onto our rug - much to the delight of our sunbathing puppy.

It highlights the dog hair that I have yet to vacuum, and creates wondrous little pockets of warmth for us to enjoy when the outside temperature remains frigid.

It reminds me that sometimes the warmest parts of my living room are right next to the deepest shadows.

Which is probably a metaphor for something important, but I’m too busy snuggling up next to my puppy to figure that out. ;) Happy February!