A Desire To Give Back
Where He Leads…..I Will Follow
When I became a business owner it was important to me, as a Christian, to give back in some way. I wasn’t sure how I was going to go about doing that, but I prayed about it and gave here and there of my time and proceeds. I picked an organization and worked with them a bit shooting a session and volunteering at events. It felt good to give back…. but something was missing. So I moved on to the next organization, and the next, and the next. I always felt like I helped these places but my heart and soul were not completely invested. Over time I kind of pushed it out of mind thinking maybe one day I’d figure it out.
Being a newborn photographer is the icing to my cake, the snow to my winter, the bubbles to my bath…. how else can I say it…? I LOVE IT! There’s a bonus too. I get to fall in love with the babies and the families! Seeing them grow, their first smiles, when they crawl, start to walk, whether through Facebook posts, visiting, or another session put a huge smile on my face and a flutter in my heart. I’ve had many, many, heart flutters since I began this all.
Here, not to long ago, however, I experienced a different kind of emotion. A heart-breaking emotion. I experienced the first loss of a newborn baby that I had photographed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This was the kind of thing I could not wrap my head around, or come to grips with accepting. And that’s me…. the newborn photographer. I couldn’t even bear the thought of the burden suddenly loaded onto my sweet young clients.
If you don’t know, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, it is the sudden unexplained death of babies under 1 year of age. It is an absolute tragedy that affects thousands of families each year. After I saw how this terrible thing affected my clients I felt a very heavy burden on my heart. I felt I had to do something to help the families of infant loss as well as contribute to prevention or a cure. After much research and further prayer on my part, I felt led to give back by partnering with Tiny Wings Foundation.
Tiny Wings Foundation is an organization founded to help in various areas of infant loss. Christie Newell, the founder, experienced more than one infant loss in her life through her brother’s baby and a baby of her own. It was through her loss and through her calling that Tiny Wings developed. Tiny Wings is a foundation based on Christian principles with a desire to help those suffering loss to receive the counseling they may need. They also contribute part of their proceeds to the research of various forms of infant death as well as partnering themselves with Gracie Faith SIDS Prevention program. Through the program they help raise money to provide families with the SNUZA baby movement monitor.
I thank God that he led me to Christie through our passion as photographers and I can help bring awareness to her foundation. I’m excited to finally have a way to give back that speaks to my heart. Starting October 1, 2016, which is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, even though I’m getting a late start posting, I will be donating a portion of my proceeds to Tiny Wings Foundation. I hope you can join me in doing so as well, either through a donation of your own or through your session and me. This is such a tragic thing to happen. No one should ever lose their precious baby.
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