Jenny Duffy Photography Blog

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10 min. Shoot

So I will have officially blogged all of my nieces and nephews in the last month. Here's the last two beauties! I dragged them out in the snow yesterday for a chilly 10 minutes and this is what we came up with :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Squish!

I took these pictures of my niece during Christmas time, and I'm finally getting a chance to blog them :)

When I look at these pictures I just want to squish her! ***LOVE*** 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love you baby Iris!
 
 
 
 
 
 

dogtherapy

Do you ever wish you were a dog? I took a break from work a few moments ago and laid in my sunny hallway with my doggers, Hank and Bo.  For a moment, I found myself wishing I was one of them, but only for a moment :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

So lucky to have these boys to help me escape the craziness of life for little moments, lay in a sunny hallway, and just be.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fasting Outward

I mentioned in my post titled fasting inward that there would be a second post titled fasting outward as I felt there were additional things I wanted to share regarding what I heard from God due to fasting for 21 days. I attempted writing this post twice and have experienced it being shut down on me both in the spiritual and physical arena. Once my internet failed and all that I had typed was mysteriously gone. Next, I just couldn't organize my thoughts enough to make any sense. 

I'm still trying to discern weather this is the enemy shutting me down or if it's God. If it is in fact the enemy, I will get this post written in full and explain what God has revealed to me from fasting in totality in due time. On the other hand, if God doesn't want me to share the rest of what he's revealed to me I will keep it private. I just need some more time for discernment, but I didn't want to leave you hangin :)

I want to highlight once again that when you're fasting most of the time it is to be done in private (Matt 6:16-18). However, the kind of fast ::Awakening:: I was involved with was a corporate fast. In addition, I did not intend to announce my fasting on the internet, but I felt the spirit prompting me to share. The lord knows the intention of your heart weather you're giving to the poor, praying or fasting and if you're doing it for recognition from people that's all the reward you're going to get. God will not pay any attention to you if you're heart is not in the right place.

I'll leave you with a few images of Marcel...an incredibly spirit filled dude!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace :)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Picture of a Man

I was sitting in the kitchen this morning sipping my morning tea while watching Ryan make pancakes with the girls. As I watched, I began to think about the boys. What boys you ask? Well, the boys who will be after my girl's hearts someday when they are grown. 

Ryan is  painting such an amazing picture of what a husband and father should look like in our girl's eyes. Those poor poor boys. I have a feeling it's going to be quite a challenge for them to meet my girl's standards!

 

Happy Tuesday!
 

Paint for 5.5 Years

Today is Cecelia and Santana's 5 1/2 birthday. In school they recognize kids 1/2 birthdays if their b.day is in the summer. The girls thought we would be having a big celebration, and I had to bring them back to reality and tell them there would be no party, but they could do a little painting instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 5.5 my little sheilas!

Stay tuned for my fasting outward post. It's a work in progress. I'm such a turtle when it comes to writing.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fasting Inward

I have felt prompted to share what I received from the Lord since I fasted for 21 days. If you didn't read my last post at the beginning of my fast and would like to before you read on click here

My Diet. This is one area that God spoke to me in a profound way. To be honest, I was not seeking or expecting to be spoken to in this area. Simply, I was following what the bible says others have done in the past to hear God more clearly.  The first three days of the fast were the most difficult for me as my body began to go through detox. God's voice was not clear at all during this uncomfortable stage, and I wasn't really interested in hearing much because I was too consumed with my physical state and the change that was happening inside my body. Once I felt, I guess the best way to describe it is, clean and clear ( I know it sounds like acne cream) I began to feel a peace flood over me, and as the days passed God's voice and spirit began to move in me. 

The first thing the Lord chose to speak to me about was....wait for it....food. I found myself in the beginning saying, "Really God, this is so practical and to be quite honest rather boring!" So God told me I need to change my diet. As I dug deeper into the truth he was offering me about my diet, I began to realize that what he was trying to tell me was actually overwhelmingly profound! I discovered that eating is spiritual.  My father in heaven laid it out hard! He basically said that if I want to be able to live in his will for his glory and have a relationship with him that is perpetually moving toward the kingdom of God, I need to stop treating my body like a trash compactor. The toxic, rich food I was eating (primarily from restaurants) was essentially a barrier between me and my precious king! I now understood this food was not allowing me to be the strong energized person that can handle the movement of the holy spirit in my soul. I was a godly wimp!  The Lord told me I need to be eating food that is clean and pure just the way he prepared the food for us. Let me explain. I kind of look at it like when you add salt to a dish and it hurts the cooks feelings. The cook has taken great care and love in preparing the dish by adding all of the ingredients just perfectly so that you will enjoy it just as the cook had hoped. Our father has prepared so many delicious foods on this earth for us to enjoy and it's perfect just the way he made it. He designed our bodies for heavens sake! He also designed the food that is supposed to make our bodies work and function at top performance. Doesn't it just make sense to eat the food God designed for us and to eat in exactly the way he prepared it?? Duh!

As the days passed I felt my body changing back to it's original design. I can't even begin to explain how incredible I felt and still feel. So many of my little ailments of a 33yr old woman were g.o.n.e! To name a few, the sugar coma crash in the late afternoon no longer existed.  I actually discovered I didn't require as much sleep! I was getting out of bed refreshed which is huge for me because I've alway been uber groggy and grouchy in the morning... most of the time walking like a zombie to my coffee pot without a peep. No "good morning" greetings from this toxic mommy! My joints stopped hurting. My contacts felt better in my eyes. My skin felt more smooth and was more even and clear. My emotions felt so much more balanced, and I noticed I had more patience in motherhood. I felt less agitated and was taking more time to listen and look at my kids. I credit most of this due to the fact the enormous amounts of coffee I was drinking was replaced by tea or just plain hot water :)

 As I realized how badly I was treating the home for my soul and the holy spirit, I developed a crippling fear for the end of my fast. A fear of going back to my old ways of salt drenched food, bold coffee, and a cloudy mind and heart. 

Ryan went through similar feelings during his fast and together, we've made a commitment to change our lifestyle. We are paying closer attention to what is in the food we eat as well as where it comes from. We're incorporating more organic foods (especially meat) and trying to eat more foods in their most natural state. I never thought I would enjoy a plain avacado as much as I have in the last few weeks. Avacados are a great source of unsaturated fat BTW! 

The funny thing is,  if you looked at us you would probably assume we are generally healthy people. Looks can be deceiving because in my opinion and according to God, we were on the road to destruction and disease! 

So.....How are we doing this you ask? Here's a few of the basic stuff we are pursuing.

Make eating Godly a priority. Time management is key. We would always just end up going out to eat because we were too busy to make sure there were groceries in the house, meals were planned, and we had enough energy to cook. Note to self: Cut out signing up kids for the next sport or activity to enable ourselves to have the time to cook good meals at home, sit around the dinner table,  look each other in the eyes, and have conversation with our kids.

Have a fall back easy meal. Some nights I am just not in the mood to cook AT ALL! We've figured out to have an easy (usually frozen) meal that can be prepared with little mess and effort. For us it's veggie burgers or Pasta and sauce. These have replaced the (you might as well drink a salt shaker) frozen pizza. 

Fruit, veggies and nuts have replaced Doritos, corn chips and crackers for snacks. You know, sometimes you just want to chew and munch!

And for that dreaded sweet tooth at night! To my astonishment, the sweet tooth didn't exist when I was hard core fasting. Now that I've started to incorporate bread and pasta back into my diet I'm seeing hints of him nudge me in the evening. We started buying or making all natural fruit smoothies during our fast, and they have replaced the nightly bowl of sugar cereal.

Educate ourselves. I probably had a bit of a leg up on the topic of nutrition since I have a BS in Physical Education, but there are so many resources out there now with our beloved internet. A four year degree is beyond unnecessary to achieve the knowledge we need for eating godly. A good recource for learning about where our food comes from and the food industry is the movie  Food Inc. I have to thank my photography friends for recommending it! If you watch the movie, notice how clear and bright the organic farmer's skin and eyes are. There's no denying it peeps! I also love this great website with lot's of yummy non toxic meals here.

Recalibrate. Sometimes life just get too busy and we fall off the wagon. We've come to realize that there are going to be times when we are going to have to recalibrate and get back on track. Most of the time we can bet if our physical well being is out of wack then our spiritual well being will be too. We've both agreed we will recalibrate by fasting on a more regular basis in order to detox and dejunk our palettes, bodies, and hearts.

You might think this diet sounds bland and boring, but let me explain what I experienced as my body became less toxic. A plain piece of boiled organic chicken was so flavorful and actually tasted salty enough, and a clementine tasted like a piece of candy. I realized I had totally annihilated my palette with junk! Food is so much better with a non-toxic palette!

Does this sound like a crazy amount of knowledge to learn in just a few short weeks? Well, that's the beauty of fasting! It's been astounding how God has flooded us with knowledge and resources in order to change our way.

I still have more to share about God's voice during my fasting, but I'm going to stop for today. This post is too long already so I plan to share in another post about what God has shown me in regards to doing an outward work for the kingdom.

Stay tuned for my next post that will be titled Fasting Outward.

And because on my blog banner it says this is a "photography blog" I'll leave you with a random image of some of my loves.

 

Peace.
 
 
 

Scheming for Hot Chocolate

Do your kids go outside and play in the snow just so they can come in for hot chocolate? Mine do.

The girls had been out (dressed in cozy warm L.L. Bean from head to toe) for barely 10 minutes. I hear them come in with fake shivers and chatters to each other about how cold they are. As they start to tromp downstairs to take their gear off, I yell out, "Nah ah, girls! You've got to be out longer than that to have hot chocolate!" 

Back outside they go.

Ten minutes later, they are standing at the sliding glass door with pink cheeks, breathing on the glass and lipping, "can we come in now?" 

Scheming little girls! I'm on to them!

 

 

But I let them come in anyway. Now I must go downstairs where they are fighting over the barbie that wears blue tights.

 
 

My {little} big sister, Boys, and Eagle Stadium

I'm so loving these quiet winter days. Our life has slowed WAY down from last fall so I'm taking the opportunity to blog some of the session, and events that took place during that crazy season in life.

This session has got to be by far one of my most favorite sessions to date :) These images were taken last summer in Eagle stadium (Hudsonville High School). Todd, my brother in law, is the coach for the J.V. football team. Since Todd and my sister, Kelly have three football lovin, rough and tumble little boys we thought the stadium would be a perfect setting for pictures.

Football has always been a part of our lives so the stadium is a rather cozy place for us.  Our dad was a football coach, and in fact, he's being inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame next month! We're so excited and proud of him! Todd played football for my dad as well as coached with him when dad's Grandville High School team won the state championship in 1996 :) 

Here's my big sister, Kelly. I should say older sister because I've actually  been bigger than her since the 4th grade. I have many memories as a kid making her submit to my larger stature by sitting on her, pinning her arms under my legs and poking on her chest with my pointer fingers until my mom would make me get off. Poor Kelly. I used to torment her so. 

 She's the girlie girl of all girls. I don't know if I know anyone with a more kind soul. I still can't quite wrap my arms around the fact that she's got three boys. Considering our personalities, I would have thought I would be the one with a house full of boys.

 

Anyhow, her family is crazy and despite those boys driving her batty she loves being surrounded by loads of testosterone, sports, army guys, bugs etc... Oh! and let's not forget to mention cleaning the toilet twice a day from two little boys peeing "at" it all day :)

I bet she can't wait to get home so the boys can climb on the furniture with these feet :) 

 

 

My nephew, Trey Trey :)

 

We have a dog named, Bo. My nephew below is Beau. When referring to him, we usually end up saying "Beau the cousin" so not to get confused with "Bo the dog". It's okay, we didn't mind when Kelly and Todd asked us if they could name their second child after our dog :) LOL! I'm just kidding! He's actually named after a friend of theirs from high school not our dog! But we still tease them about it all the time!

 

 

 

Chase!
 

haha! Trey is funny here. I love him.

 

 

This one makes me laugh too! What in the world are you doing, Chase? Weird-o!

 

 

 

 

 
  My {little} big sister, Kel. She has a kind soul. She is my friend and I love her.