Healthy and Strong | Water Street Dreams | Chicagoland photographer

I've been itchin' to share this session.

For many, many reasons.

Buckle up.

It’s a story SO worth telling.

Meet Dana.

(And for the record,

she does NOT like being the center of attention.

At all.)

And her Jake man.

And their four littles.

SO CUTE, RIGHT?

RIGHT!

Back story?

Back in 1996,

I up and went to the other side of the world

for three years. 

Without knowing a soul,

I hopped on a plane in Chicago,

and three days later 

landed in the province of Irian Jaya,

Indonesia.

Look at a map of Australia,

and the huge island immediately above it

is the island of New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea is its own country

and is on the right-hand side of that island.

Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya), Indonesia,

is on the left-hand side of that island.

Jakob and Dana were my students,

back when I was young

and they were younger.

Over the past 11 months,

Dana has been on an incredible health journey,

which is why this summer session happened. 

I’m SO proud of Dana.

Like,

"big sister I wanna tell her story

to everyone I know"

kinda proud.

These images tell a story of

hopelessness turned to hope.

A story of hard work, 

determination,

focus,

strength,

and 

choosing a healthy lifestyle.

A story of goal setting and goal meeting.

A story of joy.

Meet the old Dana.

Gorgeous then.

Gorgeous now.

Back in 2015 Dana was diagnosed with MS.

She was in pain.

All the time.

Migraines.

All the time.

Serious eye issues.

Like, might lose her eyesight eye issues.

She suffered significant, life-altering fatigue.

These are just some of the symptoms.

Believe me,

the list was lengthy.

The diagnosis was crippling and debilitating.

I think she'd say she felt like her life was racing by

and she wasn't getting to fully participate in it.

The good news?
That chapter is behind her now!

Her current chapter?

Oh it gets good, people.

It gets really really good!

Her current chapter

is the one in which she says,

I’m gonna fight back.

I’m gonna get to the gym.

I’m gonna change eating habits.

I’m gonna lose some weight.

Not just to change a number on the scale,

but a quality of life change.

And folks,

She DID it.

As in, 

she lost 85 pounds,

she’s maintaining that weight loss,

but most importantly,

she’d say she got her life back.

She can play with her kids.

She hasn’t had symptoms in over 10 months.

WHAT?

How’s that for unbelievable?

She has pep in her step

and joy in her heart

and she’s fully living.

She is 100% inspiring to me

and I just love that she’s

healthy and strong.

THAT's what I'm celebrating.

SHE'S HEALTHY AND STRONG.

Dana,

as a self-proclaimed

‘big sister’ of sorts,

I could just squeeze you and say

YAY!

You walked the hard road of getting to the gym,

and changing what you ate,

and reaching out to God for help and hope.

And now you’re reaping the benefits of making

the next right choice.

And in case you're wondering,
THIS image below
is my favorite shot of you from our time together.

Wanna know why?
Because anyone that has known you
for more than 
say,
10 minutes,
can hear your laugh when they look at this image.
They know your heart is good and pure.
They can SEE that you're fully alive.
They know that your joy comes from God

I’m hopeful that telling your story,

- through words and images - 

will inspire others

to know there is hope!

Now get out there and run a few miles

or dance a new jig

or climb another mountain.

Love you and that great family of yours!

****************************

And for all those still reading,

if you care to know,
I thought I’d give you the back story on how
I know these two groovies!

Jakob’s family was the very first family
to take me in,
include me in their daily lives,
teach me everything I needed to know
in order to survive in a tropical paradise jungle
as a single gal,
far, far,
from my own family.

Roger (Jake’s dad), taught me how to drive 
in an ‘opposite than you’re used to driving’ land.

Gwen (Jake’s mom),
taught me how to actually take feathers out of the chicken 
before you cook it. 

Jesus take the wheel.

I never mastered the skill,
through no fault of Gwen’s,
thank you very much,
which led to many meals around their dinner table.
They knew I was helpless in the kitchen

so they came to my rescue.
ALL.THE.TIME.

My first EVER Christmas away from my own family
found me on the other side of the world
with the Stuber family of five,
where Roger,
a missionary pilot,
flew us on a small little plane into a remote village.
(Shame on me – I don’t remember the type or name – 
Cessna? 507? 
So sorry Stuber men. 
I know this is of grave disappointment to you.)

Do you KNOW how cool it is to just fly off into the sunset,
or rather,

sunrise,
with a pilot and his family and 
nobody else on the plane?
 Who does this?

So you see,
the Stuber family
will always, ALWAYS hold 
A very special place in my heart.

God places the lonely in families.
He placed me right smack dab in the middle

of the Stuber family.

And then there’s Dana’s family.

In an effort to fully disclose,

I must say that I was 100% completely terrified of Corky
when I first met her.
She was on the school board,
which I think made her one of my bosses?

She was no nonsense.
She asked direct questions and 
expected direct answers.

And for this people-pleasing,

fresh off the plane single gal from Chicago,
she made me tremble.

But, alas,
within a few weeks,
I realized that actually,
she was one of the coolest ladies around.

She was a nurse who knew tropical medicine and disease,
which comes in handy when you 
contract malaria,
say, five or six times.

She was an advocate that just simply needed
to know the why behind the what.
She’s faithful and strong and I have a great respect for her.

And my favorite thing about her?
She’s a prayer warrior.

I mean, 

When I was dealing with an extreme health issue,
in the fall of 2015,
where I was crawling to the bathroom
and up most nights,
unable to sleep because of the pain,
guess who was praying?
And Facebook messaging me
throughout the day/night?

Yep.

Corky.

I cry,

2 years later,
as I type those words.
Her encouragement during that long journey
meant more to me than I could possibly convey.

And Jack,

Dana’s dad.

Just a great guy.
A gentle giant type.
Don’t really know him
but know enough to know
that he’s a man of his word,
and a man of the people,
and he made a significant impact on
the people of Papua, Indonesia.

I look back on my three years in Indonesia

and am SO grateful

that I was given the gift of the Stubers and the Hooks

and countless others that took me in

and loved me as their own.

So when I see Jakob and Dana,

I'm reminded all over again

of how God provides just exactly what we need,

when we need it.

I needed family.

And He provided.

Dana and Jakob,

you're incredible parents

and your love for each other and your children

is beautiful to watch.

I love that while we don't see each other often,

when we do,

it's like we didn't skip a beat.

Love you both.

Squeeze your moms and dads for me!