Yea I haven't posted for a whole month. I have had plenty to talk about, just didn't want to re-hash it. The short story is that I buried a six year old niece late last month. No one ever wants to do that. Let me tell you, its been the worst thing that's ever happened to me (I can't even imagine how much more awful and tragic this has been for her parents and my parents). It happened very suddenly... no sickness, just a freak accident. Let me tell you, it makes you grab your kids and hug them a thousand times ... make sure you have plenty of time with them ... yell at them a lot less ... take a lot more pictures. I posted a blog on my Myspace page about the story. I have had a really rough year with all of the things that's happened to me and my family and very close friends. God has a plan I am sure. Can't wait til I can look back at this.

On the upside, I've been taking more pictures of musicians lately so I am having to learn my camera better and figure out low lighting settings and all. I will blog again soon with some pictures from recent gigs. Hope everyone is having a great month so far.

My church is in a warehouse and we like to keep it dimly lit for ... um, yea I need to ask about that .... no, really I think its so that people are more comfortable. Anyway, I've been trying to snap a few pictures here and there of the goings-on. Here are a few that I've managed to snag.

the name of the church is "The Anchor, Your Community Church" and we use "@" for the A in Anchor... so that's why you see it a lot.

This logo is on our glass doors .. I took a picture of the door and then played around in PS with it.

our pastor was in this thing called "Faster Pastor" .. it was a race among local pastors in hoopties... so funny to watch them race!

I love this picture ... how the bass player is dimly highlighted on the far left.

Chris leading the church in worship ...

Pastor Chuck Lewis

Our Coffee Bar/Cafe - I help with that some Sundays...

No, not my name... I've established that. But I have a wonderful friend who is helping me with my logo and I just wanted some feed back... which one do you think ? I am not super in-love with any of the fonts ... but other than that. Click below to see them up close...

  

Just wanted to announce that I am going with 'Julie Harnage Photography' as a name and scratch the fact that I do stuff on the side. I mean, it will be known once you go to my website... oh yea, I also purchased JulieHarnage.com but don't go there yet! I am still processing this last weekend's wedding and haven't had time to do the website yet. I hope to have it completely rockin' by the end of Summer...

Thanks for everyone's input!

Well, I've put off blogging about this as long as I think I can. I really need to vent and even though this is a very public venue, I don't care... I just need to let it out.

I've had a whole week to think about all that has happened. Let me just start out by saying that Cloey was a dear friend of mine... I don't mean to sound commercial about it. She was dear to me. She always had a big smile on her face .. much like the one in the picture.  We were a lot alike in ways. Very blunt and to the point when it counted. She was much more bold than I and also much more disciplined. I could call her and talk to her about everything I wanted to, and she would give me what she believed God was telling her about the situation. She never gossiped to me. She never allowed me to gossip either. She always encouraged me to be the best mom and wife that I could be .. because in the end, that's what truely mattered. We were both people-pleasers at times and so this was a hard lesson for the both of us, but she always seemed to have less trouble with it than I. About eight years ago, Cloey and I felt a stirring to stretch out in our worship experience. We both felt like we wanted to do more than just clap our hands and wave our flags. (if the flags part confuses you... see this). We were also pregnant at this time together. We had both of our girls in April 2000, 36 hours apart. She went into labor with Emily while in the room with me while I delivered Gabriella. So, she wound up going straight to the hospital. (I was at Piedmont and she delivered at Southern Regional). You can see us with our two girls in the picture below...
After having the girls, we looked into doing some liturgical dancing. You can see one of her dances in a video I've posted below (and on YouTube). We bought the skirts and then in April of 2001, we went on a retreat together called Tres Dias and on that weekend, we heard the song "My Redeemer" by Nicole C Mullen for the first time and looked at each other and just knew that was going to be the first dance we did. God really ministered through that song to the congregation and to us especially. We were both able to be free in our worship (at least a little more free.. but we always wanted more).
Pretty soon, we were learning about IHOP... and flew out to see what all the hype was about. Through IHOP, Cloey and I learned about soaking and getting into some heavy prayer but more than that, we also sought out people to share the gospel with. I remember being in Kansas City with her and we were eating together at a restaurant. The waitress came over and Cloey asked what her name was. As she walked away with our drink order, Cloey looked at me and said, "She looks familiar to me, I think the Lord wants to tell her something." Cloey asked me if I thought she should share the word with her, and of course, I was cheering her on. The girl came back and Cloey simply said, "You know, God wants you to be happy, He doesn't want you to live in depression." Without a flinch, this girl sits down beside me and across from Cloey and just starts bawling. I mean, it was amazing... Cloey was so encouraged as was I. This was one of the very first times that Cloey had stepped out like this, now everyone that Cloey knows has stories to tell like this. As the waitress cried over the outpouring of God's love, I was able to lead her to Lord as I had remembered this simple prayer that my dad had taught me ... it was such a sweet moment and I will treasure it always. "Dear Jesus, Forgive me of my sins. Help me turn from them. Teach me to obey Your Word. Help me to be the kind of Christian that You would have me to be. AMEN."
Cloey never stopped reaching out to anyone she came in contact with. I remember when I served on the prophetic team with her - that she wanted to just sit in Starbucks or the bookstore and share Jesus with whomever came through the door. She was passionate about telling others about the Love she had found. She was CONTAGIOUS!
I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of her life and even more thankful that the family asked me to put together a few slideshows that celebrated all that Cloey was. Even though, I stood in my faith the entire time that Cloey had fought her cancer and believed with her that she would get up and walk out of her house, completely whole - I do not doubt the Living God that tells me that "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord." God has a plan and her testimony did not die with her.. it will go on. Just like the woman at the well went into the town to tell them that Jesus had spoken to her, I know that waitress in Kansas City went to tell her family that Jesus spoke through this beautiful dark haired woman in the restaurant and it changed her life forever.
Cloey is still an inspiration to me to keep trying and keep holding on. She was human with errors but she wouldn't stop trying and striving to be the best Christian, Mother and Wife she could possibly be.
I pray that you watch these slideshows and are blessed by what a woman she was on earth and are making a decision right now to strive to be person that God is calling you to be. God wants all of us to live for Him ... are you willing to do that?

Here are two slideshows that I put together for the family and friends of Cloey... and even though people wondered how could I make such a presentation without breaking down, it was really comforting seeing her in this light - where she was constantly smiling and happy with life. The first one is of her life from birth until she was diagnosed with the cancer.



The second clip is one of her many litergical dances that she did in church, the words are so appropriate and I remember her practicing to do this in church and how excited she was about this song choice. At one point, she looks like she is about to leap into the air, I know that feeling ... especially now that she is in Heaven, I can't imagine how awesome her dances must look now... I'm jealous! I love to watch this and remember how beautiful she was in doing these dances, but at the same time, I am deeply saddened that I will never get to dance beside her on this earth again... I will have to wait until I see her again.

Can't wait til we can dance together again, Cloey...

I went over to a relative's home today for our annual Memorial Day swim/grill party and I met these two precious 10 month old twin girls. They are not identical but they are both so cute. I snapped this shot of one of them and I cannot decide how I like it cropped or treated. Give me your opinions. Do you ever feel like you want to use one photo more than one way because it turned out so good? haha... not gloating or anything!
This is the original picture, SOOC...

Thanks for your input in advance and Happy Memorial Day!

PS. Here is the cute little sister...

Ugh, I hate when I've typed out a painstakingly long blog and then my computer acts crazy and deletes it. ARGH! Anyway, maybe I am not supposed to whine so much... the short story of the blog I had typed out was this... Here are a few pictures that I took of my girls for my mother and mother in law for Mother's Day presents. They fit just perfectly in some frames I had found for them. I was questioning my talent .. (again). I don't know why.. everyone says I take great pictures. I guess I am so new at it that I don't have a lot of confidence built up. I guess the more I photograph folks, the more experience I'll have, the more confidence I'll get! Here are my beautiful girls. There was a thunderstorm coming right as I was about to take these.. so I was praying the whole time that God would hold back the rain ... and just as I was finishing up with Julianna, it started to rain hard! (He answered my prayer!)

Enjoy and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY everyone!

 
You can't see me, but I was holding her up and I PS'd me out of the picture afterwards...