Posted on by Krista Guenin · 7 Comments

The Lord Provides!

For the last couple years, I’ve been pretty frustrated with my SLOW computer. My sweet little iMac G4 was top of the line when I bought it back in 2002, but now, it can’t even handle the software I use the most.


Last Spring, I’d been seriously praying for 6 months for a lap top that could handle my work load, and make me a little more mobile. One night at Genesis, my pastor/brother-in-law was talking about meeting each other’s needs and taking care of one another. He opened the floor up to anyone who wanted to share a need. I spoke up and said “I need a laptop!” From behind me I heard a guy ask, “Mac or PC?” I, of course, replied “MAC!” After service that same guy came up to me and told me that he had a Mac laptop that he rarely used and that I could have it if I wanted it. Um, YEAH! So, all season long last year, I worked on my wonderful new(ish) laptop and things went great. Except, the laptop was also quite slow for editing in Photoshop…


So, I have continued to pray for a NEW computer &/or the money to buy one so that this season I can be more productive and waste less time waiting on my machine. Well, wouldn’t you know it? The LORD has provided!! Here’s what happened…

I was hanging out at my sister’s house one night. My brother-in-law came home and my sister was freaking out saying “give it to her, give it to her!!” I was wondering what the heck was going on, but didn’t ask. Eventually, he came over and handed me a gift card to the Apple Store saying “someone gave me this to give to you.” I opened it, and there was no amount written inside, so I just said “thanks, that’s cool!” My sister freaked out again and made him write the amount down for me (apparently I wasn’t freaking out enough :). So, he comes back over and hands me the card and I open it to find that the gift certificate was worth $4500.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shut up!! I, of course, start crying and freaking out along with my sister and we’re all screaming and freaking out. I have no idea who gave me this gift – but I believe that in the end it was God providing for me in a powerful way.


But wait! It gets BETTER! I went out to dinner that night with some friends and was sharing the amazing news with them. One of my tech-junkie friends was grilling me on the specs of the computer I was going to get. I had been trying to decide between a really suped-up iMac, or a basic Mac Pro with room to grow. His big concern was the size of the monitor I was going to get. I had calculated that I could afford a 23″ monitor with the gift card. He thought I was insane if I didn’t get the 30″. I informed him that those cost $900 MORE than the other and that it would push me over the limit on my gift card. He nonchallantly says “well, then why don’t I pay for the difference so you can get the 30″ – you really should get the 30″ it will just be so much better.” Shut UP! And before any of you get the wrong idea, this is just a FRIEND – there’s no interest on either side. This is just a friend who could afford to spend $900 to help another friend become more productive in her business. But, it’s pretty freakin crazy!

He went with me to the Apple Store the next day and we picked out my new Mac Pro with a 30″ monitor, and bought it online. It arrived just a couple weeks ago and it is AWESOME! It’s so incredibly fast and the screen is just HUGE! I LOVE IT!!!




I am so thankful to whoever it is who gave me this incredible gift, and to my friend who made it even more incredible, and to God for making it all happen and for giving me some encouragement in this dreary season!!!

May God bless each of you in ways you would never imagine!!

Posted on by Krista Guenin

L-O-V-E

Ahhh, Valentine’s Day! A day to think about LOVE. The ones you love, the ones who love you. My Valentines are my niece and 2 nephews. We are in love :)

But what IS love, really? Is it an emotion? A state of being?

We hear it at every wedding we go to (or every wedding we shoot)… 1 Corinthians 13, the LOVE chapter. But, what if we stop on this day of love to really think about what it means?

———————————————————–

If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be?

And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody.

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.

Love is patient
and kind.

Love is not jealous
or boastful
or proud
or rude.

Love does not demand its own way.

Love is not irritable,
and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.

It is never glad about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up,
never loses faith,
is always hopeful,
and endures through every circumstance.

Love will last forever,
but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear.

There are three things that will endure-
faith,
hope,
and love–

and the greatest of these is love.

———————————————————————

Just think about that as you spend the rest of this day telling people you love them – and then spend the rest of your life REALLY LOVING THEM!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

Tristan is HOME!

Yesterday my little nephew, Tristan looked like this…


But this morning he woke up feeling so much better that the doctors let him come HOME!! And now he looks like this!!! Do you see that? It’s a smile!!


It was so great to see him come home! His brother & sister were SO happy to see him – and my sister and I were practically in tears. It was great! He’s still getting better, he’s not back to normal quite yet – but he’s HOME. Thank you God!!! And thanks to all of you who prayed for him.

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

Update on Tristan

Here’s the latest update on my nephew, Tristan…

There was no improvement today in his condition. I think when I said in the last post that the Potassium made a “HUGE” difference, I overstated. It did seem to make a difference – I mean, the fact that he smiled and laughed for the first time in days was very encouraging. But, he woke up this morning pretty much the same as the day before. It didn’t help that he had to have another blood draw today, and they had to try twice to get it. It was a rather traumatic experience for everyone, and it left him pretty cranky and grumpy. This afternoon, around the same time as yesterday, he woke up and perked up a bit – laughed and smiled at his mommy’s drawings, walked and ate a little bit. The doctors & nurses say that the antibiotics may just take another day or so to kick in, and they plan to keep him at the hospital until they do and until he’s walking, eating, and acting relatively normal. So, we expect that he’ll be there until at least Wednesday.

Please continue to pray that he’d keep getting better, and that he wouldn’t be too miserable that he can’t come home yet. Pray for Kyla & Michael that they wouldn’t be too sad about that too. And pray for Reilly & Caeden who are definitely missing their big brother. And praise God that Tristan’s Mimi (my Mom) will be coming into town on Wednesday to help!

I probably won’t post an update tomorrow, unless there’s news. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support – Kyla & Michael (and I) are so grateful!

Posted on by Krista Guenin

Update on Tristan

Thank you to all who have been praying for Tristan and helping out our family today! It’s been a long couple of days, but things are starting to get better. Tristan had a CT scan today which showed nothing unusual, except a sinus infection (he also has 2 ear infections). Just to be safe, they also did a spinal tap which thankfully came back negative. They’ve now got him on antibiotics. Right before I came by the hospital tonight, they gave him a Potassium drip, which made a HUGE difference. He perked up a little bit, smiled for the first time in days, cracked a joke, and even laughed. It was such a blessing to see him getting a little better! So, we’re praying that he’ll wake up in the morning feeling better, and that maybe the doctor will let him go home tomorrow. Please pray that that would be the case.

Thank you again for your prayers, phone calls, messages, and love! You are all wonderful!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

Please pray for my family!

Anyone who knows me, knows that the most important thing in the world to me, outside of my relationship with Christ, is my sister and her family. Kyla, Michael and their 3 kids, Tristan (4), Reilly (3) & Caeden (17 months) are a big part of why I think God brought me out to Boston. And I’m so thankful that I’m here with them, especially today…

Basically since Christmas, someone in that house has been sick. Pink eye, colds, ear infections, and then this week ALL of us got a horrible stomach bug. Their oldest son, Tristan was the only one who really hasn’t bounced back. He’s been sleeping all day for 2 days, complaining of being dizzy, won’t barely drink anything, let alone eat. So, last night Kyla took him to the doctor, who promptly told her to take him to the ER for fluids and more tests.

This morning, after getting completely rehydrated, he’s not showing signs of improvement. He’s going to have to have a CT scan, and who knows what other tests. This is really very hard on my family, especially my sister. So would you please pray for him and for us? We know that God is in control, and that He knows exactly what’s wrong with our Tristan. But would you pray that He would lead the doctors in treating him. That Tristan wouldn’t be scared or in pain. That the rest of us would remain calm and TRUST that God knows what is best and that He loves Tristan even more than we do. And please pray that T would be back up and playing again soon – back to his crazy old self…

Thank you for your prayers and support! I’ll try to update the blog when I know more…

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 2 Comments

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

I know it’s a bit delayed, but I did want to wish everyone who reads this blog happy holidays! It’s been a crazy season and I have MUCH to blog about in the coming days and weeks. I hope and pray that you all have had a wonderful season with your friends and families, and that the year ahead will be wonderful as well! I think that 2008 is going to be a big year, and I absolutely can’t wait to see what God has in store. And I can’t wait to share it with all of you who check in to my little blog to see what’s new :)

Many blessings, and Happy New Year!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 5 Comments

Photo Biz Boot Camp

Wow! It has been a crazy couple of weeks around here! Just when I thought I was about as busy as it gets with finishing up jobs in time for the holidays – I spent much of last week at Photo Biz Boot Camp. Liana Lehman came up from Atlanta and spent 3 days with 8 of us from 7 studios in the area going over the business side of photography and helping each of us develop some goals for the coming year and beyond. It was incredible and I am SO glad I was able to go (thanks to a scholarship from Davina Fear)! I have so much going on in my head and I need to take some more time to get it all out on paper and make some plans for the coming months. Now that all jobs are up online and prints have been ordered, I can’t wait to take a few days to process and plan ahead!

Here are some photos from our last day of camp…

Matt Grazier workin’ it for the camera


Enna Grazier looking like HOT STUFF!

Matt & Enna having their portrait taken by Liana


Maureen Ford being photographed by, um, everyone


Eric Laurits, aka :e: in between shots


Meghan Thomas – one of the few of us who actually seems to like having her picture taken

Lauren Rutten laughing it up, enjoying life, thinking about the “darkroom,” I’m sure ;)
(ah, you had to be there…)

Amanda Harris playing with the Grazier’s puppy, Jackson

Liana working it Santa-style for Enna and Eric

Thank you for coming all the way up to Boston to be with us, Liana! You are a great teacher and an absolute blessing! And thanks to each of my fellow photographers – for being such an encouragement to me! I’m so glad to have met each of you and can’t wait for that follow-up session on the cruise ship next year :)

I’m really excited about the next year in my business and I can’t wait to see what happens when I start putting all of this into action. Big changes will be coming, so stay tuned…