Spencer is set and ready to head onto bigger things. In fact he is all ready to head into the Air Force Academy and not only is he excited but his mother is excited for him, she will miss him dearly, but she said to me, ” I just know he’ll be set for life.” And I agree. I have a small idea or a window into the possibilities because Michael, my sweetheart was also in the Military, and the Army specifically, and seriously he’ll be more than set! I had so much fun with these two, our session, though cold was eventful and even awkward at moments which made us laugh and bond. There’s a story behind that Spencer is just awesome and I can attest he is just a great solid, sincere guy and I look forward to seeing the great things he’ll be up to in life.

A year ago today my graceful and elegant grandmother Grace Beatrice Wolgemuth whom we called “Gaye” for her gaiety and joy, left this world and headed with great courage to Heaven. I know she was excited to see her heavenly father whom she loved and served her whole life and I also know she must have been incredibly thrilled to see her “lover” as she called him, my grandfather Samuel.

I have been taking a seminar through Landmark Education called Causing the Miraculous and so all I can think of is miracles, and I have one to share. And at this particular time of year, I want to share with you a Miracle that happened in my life last year .

First of all, my husband is my miracle. He is the single most amazing thing that has ever happened to me in all my life. My parents will be reading this, and though I love them, and I know that they love me, and yes nothing in my life would be possible without them, I think they understand what I am saying here. Michael is just sincerely the biggest gift that God has ever given to me personally. And truthfully, his presence in my life I consider a clear sign and grace that my heavenly father does exist, and deeply loves me more than I could ever comprehend, and has a perfect plan for my life, despite how I may have already screwed it up. And just to illustrate this to you, when we got married, we played the song “How he loves me” by David Crowder Band, because that is just how we felt. If you know the song you’ll understand why, this song isn’t about love that a guy has for a girl or vice versa it’s about love that God has for us, and that was most evident to us when got married, that God loved us to give us the gift of each other.

Now let me get back to the story and my grandmother Grace, but before I do let me introduce one more special person whose intricately involved in this story in an amazing way, my maternal grandmother Irene. My Grandma Irene was strong and determined all her life, until she finally sang her last hymn on this earth about 3 months before Grace did.

The story and the lives of these women are what has shaped my genetic heritage and faith legacy my entire life, but the death of these woman is what impacts me more each second I take the time to think about it. Their death, the timing of their death and what it showed me in my life is truly beyond miraculous, and a precious gift that should be shared.

Here begins the story….

When I met Michael I was a young woman who had previously settled, chose someone whom I thought I could make into the person I wanted, quickly realized my error and did a mid course correction. I set out in my journey to bloom where I was planted, really get satisfied with the life God had given me, and continued to grow my business and to share with my life and lessons with my clients.

Michael was everything I had always dreamed of in a man, and truly each time he spoke to me it was as if he was peering into the deepest desires of my heart and making it a reality. We were madly in love, completely compatible and the timing was right. After listening to advice from my mother and my gut we tried to date in all seasons to make sure this was it. It had nearly been 8 months and I was pretty sure Michael was thinking of proposing marriage. I knew Michael well enough to know that since we met on April 19th, and had celebrated each 19th thereafter it would most likely be on the 19th, and as it was then December, and a Saturday night he’d asked me to keep open I thought it would be then. However… God and my Grandma had other plans. My mom’s mom Irene was very ill, I remember distinctly earlier that week and getting the news that it could be any moment. My mother called on December 18th and then sang to me on the phone the song they were singing to my Grandma when she died.

I knew Michael well enough to know he’d planned his proposal for the very next day, but I also knew him well enough to know that once I told him my grandma had gone, that a proposal the next day would be out of the question and bad timing. So the next day, we relished our time of Christmas shopping, and then as he’d had planned rushed to make our reservation…to where I didn’t know… until we arrived, I could see very clearly we were going to relive our first date, and then our second. And at the end of the night when there was no ring…we both knew that that was his original plan… and yet there we were still very much in love. I remember the feeling I had the next morning, acknowledging there was no proposal, and no ring… but the feeling, the absolute peace, and I was so in love, and I really didn’t even need a ring to prove it was unmistakable. And since…since I had been around the block and lost once before, that was the greatest gift I could have ever asked for. I knew the gift was from God with a little help from my grandma. A couple days later Michael proposed and it was with confidence that I accepted the ring, because I knew it was not about the ring, it was about what the ring meant for us, and I knew that what we had would last, and I knew it with all of my heart.

Since we were so in love… and anxious to get married and start our life together we had wanted to get married as close to April as possible and earlier than April was even better. (Remember that talk from my mother about dating in all seasons) After looking at the month of April, we realized there was a conflict with each weekend… when our eyes entered the calendar month of March… and when it looked like the last weekend in March would be ideal for many reasons, we got a special nod from my mother. The weekend that it seemed most ideal for us was a very special weekend, it was my Grandma’s birthday weekend of what would have been her 98th year. My mom couldn’t have been happier to think of celebrating it in that way. Again, another little wink from my Grandma.

Since I had been through the “wedding thing” before, and didn’t really want to live through Michael and Molly the Sequel (Ironic, I know) we had decided to keep our guest list very small and considering I had a large extended family and most of Michael’s family wouldn’t be able to make it, I felt that it would be okay to not invite my cousins. After all, what we were most excited about was life, and living it and experiencing it with others and our families and so we were looking forward to gatherings and dinners with my relatives later on. We had expressed our love and our desire for those things and I think they got that and understood. I think the most important thing that not inviting tons of family meant to me was that I was so very much in love and devoted to Michael that I did not need everyone there to make it real. And for me, and the bride I was last time, (too obsessed with the details) that was simply a testament that things were different and right.

About two weeks before our wedding there was a little discussion about whether or not Gaye would be able to come to the wedding, due to her health. I really could not fathom getting married without her there and in the bottom of my heart thought that she’d be able to come. But just in case she couldn’t Michael and I went to visit Gaye. Our time with her I will cherish forever. She said to us, how wonderful it was to know that Michael was with me. She mentioned how much she thought that had meant to my parents, and what a comfort that was to know that. Michael and I deeply understood what she meant.

What we didn’t know was that that would be the last time we spent with her. Three days later, she slipped into Heaven and was at peace with her greatest loves.

What transpired was quite amazing, after a discussion my parents had with my aunts and uncles was that the very same weekend, the friday before our wedding would really be the most ideal time for her funeral. My parents, myself and Michael just decided that it really then would feel right to then further extend the invitation to the wedding to the extended family who would now all be in town. In one day, only 10 days before the wedding we nearly added 20 people and 3 new tables to the plans. I remember feeling, elated and open handed and just plain honored to have it work out like this. It was the kind of thing, that made sense to me in my heart, and touched me. I totally knew it was indeed a gift from God and that this time the help was from Gaye. Like God, in his infinite wisdom and Gaye, in her grace had planned her timely exit to communicate a message to me, “Molly, I know you love Michael so much that you don’t necessarily need your family there for it to feel real, but I want to give you this great gift of having them there, and it will feel wonderful and have you feel truly blessed and supported, and yet it won’t feel anything like before.” It was a wink from Gaye most defiantly and a pat on the knee as she did, and I felt her love completely.

As the funeral was the day before the wedding and because she had lots of family who loved her each of her children spoke and one grandchild from each child spoke and I wanted to so much. I so wanted to share my vivid memories of childhood memories all that I remembered of her. That perfect timing, the fact that Michael and I got to sit and listen to all the great many things that she had done in her life, the day before our wedding was miraculous. Her legacy, the way she had lived and died and served our Lord in heaven, her husband and children was inspiring and served as a great calling to us as we would begin our new life together. See… God knew all these details, things that would mean so much and things that we couldn’t have ever planned.

So on this day, especially I thank the Lord for my Grandmothers. I often think of them in Heaven. I do think that each of them are spending a fair amount of time praising God and singing as they loved to do here on earth. But I am also thinking of them up in Heaven having coffee or tea together and laughing about what they had done even in their final moments. And knowing in their wise grandma way it’s great impact on my life and the reasons it continually reminds me of how much God is in the details.

Yesterday I asked for help from my friends and family and all of my facebook friends by posting a job description of a position open here at the studio. Asking for help is kind of a weird thing for me, or I guess it depends on the circumstances. I often ask my sweetheart for his help on a regular basis, can you turn off the lights, get me a glass of water, can you help order this, or research that, etc. And as of late, he actually has his own color coded post it notes on my great and ever growing to do list bulletin board, of things I really need his help on. And get this, next week he is using his comp day, a day off work to help me here in the office. Yes, he is the best and unfortunately he’s already taken.

But the concept of asking for help is kinda interesting to me. Asking for help is saying, there is a weakness here, there is a vulnerability to saying, I could use your insight and assistance with this, I don’t know how to do this, or I am sure you can do this better than me. Though in this one conversation there is also a great and significant opportunity for growth. I feel I am able to grow leaps and bounds when I ask for help. Suddenly when I ask for help I am clear about what I know I don’t  know, I am then also clear about things I didn’t even know I didn’t know. AND then suddenly, the power of whatever that thing was, the subject, the topic, whatever it is, that was hanging over my head as something I didn’t understand or couldn’t manage or get, well it’s gone and all that is left is me and that thing that used to be a problem, but is now a great opportunity for anything…

It’s kind of cool.

AND needless to say I am really looking forward to all the opportunities and possibilities asking for help can bring.

For those of you who are interested or just plan curious here’s what I am looking for:

-Molly Grace

Molly Grace Photography seeks assistant/studio manager

Seeking an innovative, organized, and driven individual to help run Molly Grace Photography as an assistant studio manager. This role requires a focus on customer service, marketing, and sales as an integral part of the business. Person will assist with  managing intern workflow, customer interaction, and development of traditional and social media marketing efforts.

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills essential. Work requires proficiency in basic office apps as well as familiarity with photoshop and lightroom. Due to office workflow and requirements, experience on Mac highly preferred. Basic math and accounting a plus, specifically experience with quickbooks but not required.

Position offers 2 days/week at $10/hr