Engagement Season as a Foundation

As I was editing this photo from a recent adventure session with a couple, I found myself really intrigued by the little tree making its way out of the rock behind them. “What a weird place for a tree to grow,” I thought.

It made me think of abnormalities and how this couple is doing things differently than others in their engagement. Sarah even shared with me that she’s not looking forward to the wedding day nearly as much as she is to being married. 

We got to chat a lot about how their engagement season has made them even stronger as a couple and they've gotten to learn that they can depend on each other even more than they had when they were just dating. It’s the stretching and the connection that comes from the depths of engagement which builds a foundation that you can then take it into marriage. 

What a wonderful thing that we have this almost-not-yet of a season to act as a starting point.

 As Sarah was describing her late nights waiting to hear a text back from her fiancé who had been on a 24 hr shift working a wildfire, I couldn’t help but think that this kind of care is going to blossom even more in their marriage to come. 

A lot of marriage is mundane— it’s making meals together, talking through work happenings, and planning the upcoming travels together— but the thread running through it all is that unconditional care. 

You care about the other person’s preference, you care for them physically, you care for their mental state, you care if they made it to work safely. 

The marriages I’ve come to personally admire the most don’t only care in the worldly sense though, they care in a way that lifts the other person to the heart of God. 

They know that this cannot be done out of their own strength, but through the Spirit that is at work in them. 

It’s a humbling daily practice of going to God and saying “You know how to care better for my spouse better than I do— show me how.” 

It’s this abnormal approach to marriage that has an unshakable foundation because it’s not based on your own human strength and not held together by your own willpower, but it’s held by the one who invented the union in the first place and is the author of connection. 

This is the tree growing out of the rock— unusual and yet sustainable. 

My hope for this sweet couple that I was able to photograph is that they continue to care for each other in this season: making sure Ethan’s safe coming from a fire and catching Sarah when her foot finds a slipper rock in the creek, for 

“Two is better than one, if one falls down, the other can pick them up” and “a cord of three strands is not easily broken.”

If you’re in your own “tree-growing-out-of-the-rock” season—pause and ask these two questions: What’s building our foundation right now?  What is most important in this season and are we basing our decisions off of that?

And if you're interested in a photography experience that takes those values and weaves them into your final gallery, then let's start the conversation. I'd love to capture photos that will reflect not just the celebration, but the foundation you’re building for a lifetime together.