we hosted almost nine hundred youth & young adults at our annual youth conference on february 3 – 5. we were blessed to have three amazing speakers for the weekend, pastor james murray from san diego [originally australia], pastor rich wilkerson jr from miami and our own youth pastor justin reimer. the conference kicked off friday evening, went all day saturday & sunday — two and a half days full of worship by our incredible team, special music guests theroyalroyal and as mentioned, awesome speakers. this was my third time attending conference and i was more involved than i had been for the previous two years. one of my jobs was incorporating social media into conference: twitter, instagram, facebook and the other was photography [shooting, of course, but also coordinating the team who helped me.]

the Lord has always spoken specific things to me at conference. i remember the “words” and direction i received the first two years during services, and this year, it was spoken through serving. the amount of volunteers, interns & leaders needed to put on this event is overwhelming. the work leading up to the weekend, the work of the weekend, the work during tear-down at midnight when everybody is running on four hours of sleep and dead-exhausted: it’s a lot. [clarification: i didn't tear down. i was in bed. whoops. but there were more servant-hearted people who did.] i had a very small part to play and i stood amazed at how God has designed the church. i believe in the church. i believe the church has faults, the church will burn people, the church will make mistakes. none of this surprises me! because the church is full of people learning to love. learning to love is messy. but it’s also beautiful.

1 corinthians 12: For the body does not consist of one member but of many... If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 

the girl that was in charge of shopping for pretty smelling soaps and bobby pins and hairspray and deodorant for the ladies’ bathroom is no less important than one of the pastors. the facility person who was up at 5am every morning to open the church doors for prep work has a valuable role to play. the cafe baristas who poured espresso all day long for conference attendees are cherished. [that one is obvious...] the interns who stood at the doors smiling and greeting are vital. God has a place to serve for every person — and church isn’t something we attend, it’s something we do. we serve, we lead, we grow. proverbs 11:25 says the one who waters will himself be refreshed. what a cool promise.

there you go, just a few of my thoughts. here’s a few photos of what went down. if you’d like to see more, check out the revolution fan page. some of these photos are by josh yong + ryan tam.

emily and lane are two incredible youth leaders at revolution. they have a huge heart for God, for church, for youth ministry, for community [their home is always open!] — and in the year i have known them, come to appreciate them like crazy. emily and lane both grew up on vancouver island; met through a few friends in the last year of high school, hung out a few times… but lane was headed to australia. for two years. their relationship was left on-hold… meaning, they didn’t have one–haha!–but occasionally talked on facebook, the rare skype call, etc. after a year of school in sydney at hillsong college, lane came home for the summer and these two made it official. only to have him leave again for another year! but emily was just happy to have him as her boyfriend finally, because as she told me once over coffee, “i guess i was pretty infatuated with lane from the very beginning.” 

they made the year apart go by a little faster with emily flying to sydney to visit halfway through. when lane graduated and moved back home to victoria, their story still wasn’t a smooth ride. they were young [20 or 21?] and even after six months of dating in the same place, they needed some time to grow individually. they broke it off… and it was awful. friend groups separated, schedules were shuffled around to avoid one another; and it stayed that way for twelve months. a YEAR. that is a heck of a long time. until the next summer, at a youth camp where they were both serving as leaders together. after months of little to no contact, lane pulled emily aside one day and confessed that he missed her. still loved her. wanted to try and make this work. emily, even though she had dated since their relationship, knew she wanted to try again. nobody she had met compared to lane for her.

four months later, they finally made it! lane proposed. she said yes. they were engaged. both of them, in the right place in their lives at the same time. nine months later they were married on vancouver island, august 21, 2010 — and a few months after that moved over to the mainland for lane to finish school. that’s when they walked into my church and i met them! as i said up above, i love spending time with these two [and i say these two, because lane really likes to join our coffee dates... he'll hang around the kitchen "playing games" on his iphone while emily and i chat on the couch... juuuust teasing, lane, emily and i like you there.] we had planned since the fall to take photos “when the snow came” and i flew home from sydney on saturday to SNOW and lots more of it has been coming.

this was such a fun afternoon. i like hanging out with two fun friends of mine and i like that they are married and i like that they like coffee and walks in the snow and not only do they not complain about sitting in the snow, but they suggest it. BOOM. enjoy.

as a teenager, i was involved with an awesome youth group that was full of incredible leaders. one of these leaders was a girl named amanda — and after i graduated and became a leader myself, we co-lead a small group for girls every week together. i remember those times so well. honestly, with a group of fifteen-year-old girls the biggest topic of discussion seemed to be boys [oh how confusing they were!] and dreaming up our future weddings. bahaha. a guy’s worst nightmare. but, of course, the girls and i especially loved to dream about what amanda’s wedding would be like someday — this girl has always had an eye for style and details.

amanda moved to california a few years ago to attend bethel school of ministry; where she met this great guy named james. they didn’t talk much for the first year of school… really not until last summer, when they started hanging out as friends. good friends, best friends, and before they knew it, whoops! they fell in love with each other like nothing they’ve ever experienced before. james proposed over the christmas break when he and amanda were back in BC visiting family. here’s the real kicker, i shot their wedding four days later — and amanda had no idea she was getting married that day.

i got a call from amanda’s mother the day before: was i up for the challenge of shooting a surprise wedding of one of my old friends? mmm, yep! sure was. here’s how it all went down. james and amanda had talked in the past about eloping — so marriage quite quickly after engagement wasn’t something that intimidated them. james had this brilliant idea of getting married on christmas eve afternoon, with only amanda’s immediate family present — and keeping it a surprise from his bride the whole time. amanda and james were told by amanda’s mom that she had booked an engagement session with me on christmas eve day for a gift. amanda was thrilled & we talked on the phone on december 23rd to plan where to meet.

i suggested milner chapel as a great meeting point; easy to find and a few spots around there i wanted to walk to. amanda and james were thinking a formal-ish theme; amanda had bought a great new dress and heels for the season and wanted to wear them. perfect. we set up a time and the next day, i pulled into the parking lot. amanda’s mom was with her to help carry things for the shoot, etc. also, amanda’s mom had told the couple that amanda’s family would be coming for a few quick family photos [while everyone was dressed up] before their church christmas eve service following the session. so when amanda’s brother and sister-in-law and grandma arrived, she didn’t suspect anything. we spent a half hour taking photos, then we set up “family photos” on the church steps.

it was cold and windy outside, so the family went inside to warm up until i “needed” them for some more poses. next thing, amanda’s brother said he’d love one of just the two of them. james decides to go “check on the family” inside the chapel. amanda and her brother and i are the only ones standing outside of the chapel. we take a few photos and i say, we should go join the family and bring ‘em back out. we three walk into the church, and james is standing at the end of the aisle, with an officiant standing right beside him. amanda’s family is seated and her brother hands amanda a bouquet, and the music starts, and down the aisle they walk.

amanda was blown away; immediately tearing up and when james met her at the end of the aisle he asked, will you marry me? today? and she said, yes, of course i will. james had written out wedding vows for himself and then a copy for amanda [in case she was too flustered to speak!] — but the cutest part of the day, amanda started reading the pre-written vows and stopped. james, i don’t need these, and she grabbed both his hands and winged it. beautifully.

ah, it was such a fun day.