It’s been more than a year since we have last introduced ourselves. When I say “we” I mean my husband and I. But, as many already know, we are adding a new member to the family: our beloved Jovie Grace. She is due November 14, and we cannot wait to meet her!
Today I want to Introduce myself to those who may not know anything about us, or those who simply haven’t heard from us directly for quite a while. I am excited to write a small summary about what has been happening in the last two years, along with sharing some of my maternity pictures that my awesome husband took of me the other day.
THREE YEARS AGO:
About three years ago, we started the process to become missionaries. We did not know that it would be to Santiago, Chile. Yet, after much prayer, we believe that God showed us our next step. We were to work amongst university students in the heart of Chile. We took this step of faith and gave it our all. You can click here to read about our work in Santiago. Then, after getting approved and raising our budget we headed to Central America in January of 2016 for language training. We lived for about eight months in San José, Costa Rica. Brian and I learned so much during this time. We spent much time in prayer, preparing our hearts for Chile, and learning how to improve our language in order to be effective in our ministry. Two trimesters flew by and it soon became evident that our lives were going to change yet again. Adjusting to a cultural setting (even for an immigrant as myself) was hard to get used to! There were days where we questioned our motives, were we asked, “Is this where we should be?”. Oh but how wrong we were to ask such questions. God had directed us, and with that, our trust in Him increased as time went by.
OUR CURRENT TERM:
We arrived in Santiago on August 14, 2016. It was a very cold morning, very different from the tropics of Costa Rica. Our lives had changed again. It was another time of transition, cultural adjusting and new experiences. Pretty soon we had a schedule and met new friends. We were part of a team that consisted of other missionary couples/ families that had left everything in order to serve Jesus. Though physical family was far away, we found a spiritual family willing to love us and teach us along the way. During this past year and a half we have ministered to college students and have been involved in a city church plant. There have been highs and lows, but overall our time in Chile has been full of JOY. Then January 2017 came, and we began to think more about children. What if? We would ask. And so we decided to try and voila, we got pregnant pretty fast! March 11, 2017, we found out that the Castro family was going to have a new addition. By mid June, we found out this new baby was going to be a girl. After a long process of deciding on a name (it was difficult) we named her Jovie Grace. Jovie, because her name means cheerful, joyful, jovial. Grace, because we believe (and pray) God’s grace will follow her wherever she goes.
During this term of two years we have still kept in touch with our photography. It just looked a little different. Instead of constant families, weddings, engagements, we ventured into street, nature, and landscape photography. Along the way, we were able to bless families and couples with pictures as well. All of this with no profit gained. Our “clients” would bless us with food, a nice warm meal, a nice cup of coffee, and this just made our heart cheerful. Yet, during this time we missed our clients. We missed our photography. This was a GOOD different, but we knew we wanted more. Hence, we have decided to return to the States and pursue photography.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Brian and I plan to return to the States by January 2018. If everything goes as planned we will be prepared to start accepting weddings February 2018! We have big plans coming to our photography and a possible side business (more of that next year ;) ). If you are a couple who is looking to get married in the year 2018, please reach out to us…we would love to have you as our client on our “return” back to the states. Please check out our portfolio and the different categories we have. To contact us, simply fill out our connect page form and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
It is never too early to start choosing your wedding photographer! We hope to be part of your story…
Now to share my baby bump! Since we have been a tad busy lately we did not have time to hire another photographer, and well time is running out! Sadly the hubs is not in the pics, but I give all the credit to him, since he listened to my every request and picky comments! Here I am eight months pregnant!
