{Face: A Portrait}

After several days of no Joy Of Love blog posts, I NEED to get on the ball and churn out my last few photo assignments! I really thought I'd be done by now, but I've had a tough time getting pictures for these last days.

This particular assignment - take a picture of your loved one's face from the shoulders up - should have been an easy one. How hard is it to snap a photo of someone's face? Not very. But I wanted to get a photo of all of my beloved kids' faces together since I don't have any like that yet for this class. Not only is getting a decent picture of three kids difficult as one child inevitably won't be looking at the camera, has a drippy nose, blinks his or her eyes, or simply won't cooperate, BUT finding a time to get all three kids together when there is good natural light is nearly impossible. The latter reason is the one that really held me up. But today we had a two hour delay because of some light snow and ice, so we had a great opportunity to take advantage of the morning light that streams through our windows so beautifully.

This photo, while certainly not perfect, really captures the personalities of my three kids. Sasha is more reserved and is back a bit further than her siblings (even after I asked her to move forward), resulting in some shadows on her face and less sharpness (focus) of her features. But that's Sasha. She is often shy and reserved but happy to comply at the same time. She loves to please people and her face lights up with pride when she is told she did something well. Let me tell you, she does a LOT of things well! And she's rockin' her new haircut which she LOVES!

Dixon is just a little pip. After I was able to get his finger out of his mouth and his foot down from his face, I said, "Say cheese!" and he gave me a great smile. He is spunky, on the move, and wanted to be front and center for the photo. In fact, when he saw the girls sit down on the floor to take this picture, he plopped himself down between them instead of sitting beside Clara as I had wanted him to do. He knows what he wants and is determined to have his way! Love that little blondie.

And then there's Clara. Clara is the peacemaker, the one who wants everyone to be happy. She is just . . . sweet. While I was taking these photos this morning, Clara kept putting her arm around her brother and sister to squeeze them tightly together. I had to move her little fingers down from Sasha's shoulder because I didn't want to see them in the picture. But that's who she is: aways smiling, always happy, and always loving on her family. She's my doll baby.

These are the faces I love the most in this world. The love a mother feels for her children is beyond any other love that exists. There is nothing I wouldn't do for these kids to make sure they are happy, safe, and growing into the people God meant for them to become. These are the faces of my love.