Meaning in this Wilderness | 2020 at Cassidy Elaine Photography

It is a dreary day in our world; month after month, our hearts are struck with uncertainty. What will the future hold? Will things return to normal? Deep within, our souls cry out for a place of true refuge--a ground that won't be taken out from under us. We see the world tremble with changes and aches we cannot control and search about for the ray of light that will break through the fog.

In truth, though, our hearts can never be satisfied simply with ease and predictability--though both of those things sound wonderfully ideal through the waves of surprise in our current moment of history. Rather if we face the grandest trial, or sweetest joy, the essence of who we are cries out for the God who made us. Regardless of how lovely or carefree our days are, the depths of us will not stop longing for something more. That is because the events of this world cannot give me lasting hope--my circumstances are incapable of inhaling true meaning into my existence, for I was not created for mere events or the unfolding of life happenings--rather if they are positive or negative to my perception. My soul cries out from the depths for the God who made me. 

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah" (Psalm 62:5-8).

As we near the start of a brand new year that we all hope will be better than the last, let our hearts remember that no amount of life going according to the plan can satisfy us for good. We may bank our hope upon the Savior who does not change, thereby lifting our perception to something truly freeing. Lilias Trotter speaks to this well: "Take the very hardest thing in your life – the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot. Just there He can bring your soul into blossom.”

It is our Savior who is capable of bringing redemption through the wilderness. Let us look to Him for meaning, perspective and hope through whatever unfolds in the coming months. We may have peace in knowing that He is already there. 

Here are a few images and words we recently shared on instagram. 

1. Family Time + Spurgeon // for the little ones

"Gather the little ones around your knee and listen to their words, suggesting to them their needs, and reminding them of God’s gracious promise." Charles Spurgeon

2. Miles + A.W. Tozer // the Savior living within us

“The pain of sacrificing our old selves is nothing compared to the joy of Christ living in us in our transformed lives.” A.W. Tozer

3. Wilterink Fam + Psalms // the fruit of a Christian home

"Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord." Psalm 128:1-4

4. Lily + Mama // a mother's heart

"I watched the older ones [grow up and leave home]. And each time it broke my heart; I prayed to God for them. He had given them over to me to love and to bring up. And I prayed and longed that they should go out to be the testimony and the witness which I longed to be in the place where they were going.” Gladys Aylward

5. Camille + Petoskey // truly meaningful living

"I seek not a long life, but a full one like you, Lord Jesus." Jim Elliot, martyr

6. Together in the shade of a pine tree // the depths of God's love for us

"Oh my Father, teach me to realize how deep, and strong, and pitiful is the love of Thine heart to me, since it led Thee to give Thine only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ Himself,—to redeem me, and bring me home to Thee, my God!" Susannah Spurgeon

7. Kaylee + Carson // the forming of a child's heart

"The process of shaping the child, shapes also the mother herself. Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good, that she may teach primarily by her own humble, daily example." Elisabeth Elliot

8. Brittany amongst the wildflowers // the cost of true Christianity 

“If you are going to walk with Jesus Christ, you are going to be opposed...In our day, to be a true Christian is really to become a scandal.” George Whitefield

9. Pro-Life Activist Training // dedication to defend

"Most people who say they oppose abortion do just enough to salve the conscience but not enough to stop the killing." Scott Kleusendorf

10. Reuben exploring Grand Rapids // my strength, my help, my song

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him." Psalm 28:7

11. Albin family + fall beauty // nothing lost 

“They lose nothing who gain Christ." Samuel Rutherford

12. Clara's explorations // creation proclaims His truth

“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.” Martin Luther

Jesus: Our Beloved {March 2018 at Cassidy Elaine Photography}

The month of March wasn't a typical one for us! Did you know that just this week, Michigan winter has finally showed signs of going away for the season? That's right, chilly weather has been dominating the temperatures for nearly SIX MONTHS! But alas, sunshine is breaking through, and in a similar way, I have seen Jesus prove His amazing faithfulness again and again to my soul.

 March included a lovely wedding in Big Rapids, MI that I had the privileged of shooting. There's something so precious about love; its sacred nature, intentional expression, and beautiful declaration that causes my job--to capture and "pause" the moment--to be one of great joy and celebration.


In the past year, I have been encouraged reading Song of Solomon in light of Christ and church.

- Jesus is mine and I am His ("My Beloved is mine, and I am His..." 2:16).
- His banner over me is Love ("He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love" 2:4).
- I am complete in Christ ("Thou are all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee" 4:7).
- Jesus calls me His sister, His love, His dove, and His undefiled ("I slept, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh, saying, 'Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night" 5:2).
- Jesus is the Fairest Among Ten Thousand ("My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand" 5:10).

That's our Jesus, and how He beautifully woos and pursues His bride. Earthly love is merely a reflection of a far more grand romance between Jesus and the church; doesn't it just leave you in awe to think that each of us have spat in His face, and yet He loved us entirely and awakened us to Himself? We're not in Christ because we went off and found God somewhere, but, as John Newton so eloquently put it, "It's more like He found me!" "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life" (Psalm 143:8).  

Photographing love stories reminds me that I am in a covenant relationship with the Most High. He is high and lifted up, and yet He would reach down into the miry clay and rescue one such as me; what a mystery. His love is so great! "For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven's Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth" (Isaiah 54:5).

"My beloved speaks and says to me: 'Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land" (Song of Solomon 2:10-12).

Here are some photos we shared in the month of March!

1. CHRIS + SKYLAR // beloved

"My beloved is mine, and I am his...." (Song of Solomon 2:16).

2. EMILY + MEGAN & KIMBERLY + SARAH // Our Dearest Friend

"The dearest friend on earth is a mere shadow compared to Jesus Christ" (Oswald Chambers).

3. REBEKAH + Lilias Trotter // trained faith

 “Trained faith is a triumphant gladness in having nothing but God – not rest, no foothold – nothing but Himself. A triumphant gladness in swinging out into the abyss, rejoicing in every fresh emergency that is going to prove Him true. ‘The Lord alone’ – that is trained faith” (Lilias Trotter, her journal, September 9th, 1902).

4. JOSIAH + MELISSA // safe in Christ

“Calmly we look behind us, on joys and sorrows past, we know that all is mercy now, and shall be well at last; calmly we look before us,—we fear no future ill, enough for safety and peace, if Thou art with us still" (Jane Bortheick, as quoted in Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot).

5. ESTHER + TRAVIS // we dare to trust our God

“Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God’s Holy Name let us arise and build! ‘The God of Heaven, He will fight for us’, as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we fear? Before the world, yes, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ” (C.T. Studd, as shared by deeperchristianquotes.com).

6. MALLORY // feminism: Biblical or problematic?

"Over the past months, I have seen a growing trend of Christian women associating themselves with feminism. They often allude to wanting to support the good things the feminist movement stands for, while at the same time saying that those feminists who embrace non-biblical practices aren’t genuine representatives of true feminism.

In all of the thinking, researching, praying and processing I’ve done on my own and with others, I continue to come back to this: aren’t all evils and/or abuses which feminism claims to fight already addressed under the Banner of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Is it necessary or appropriate for Christian women to to associate and identify themselves with a movement which embraces an ethos and worldview we as followers of Christ could never fully stand for? Isn’t it enough to simply call ourselves followers of Jesus as we combat sin?

I can stand for right treatment of women, not because of feminism, but because of the Gospel of Jesus. (John 4:7-30, 1 John 3:23, Colossians 3:7-17).

I can encourage strong femininity, not because of feminism, but because of the Gospel of Jesus (Proverbs 31:17).

I can stand for women and men being equally valuable in the eyes of God, not because of feminism, but because of the Gospel of Jesus (Genesis 1:27).

I can stand against wrong treatment of those of different races, not because of feminism, but because of the Gospel of Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

I can stand for the poor and the needy and those without a voice simply because of the Gospel of Jesus (James 2:15).

In all this, what I am standing for is JESUS. We can and should champion anything which Scripture says Believers should stand for, but the attention and focus must be drawn back every time to Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and it is impossible to fully do this under the label of feminism or any other worldly movement. It IS enough to be a follower of Jesus. He is the ultimate answer and solution, and He is what this world needs (1 Corinthians 2:2).

I wish my voice could be heard and my face seen in these words. My only motive is, in love, to encourage Christian women to look to Jesus and find our identity fully in Him" (Heather Cofer, as shared here).