I Heart Faces | Props | Dana Suggs

I’ve missed a couple of challenges.

And I was thrown a little by this challenge because I don’t use a lot of props.

And then….

my beautiful friend had a baby just for me to practice newborn pictures.

And his dad just happens to be a CPA.

I’m in love.

I Heart Faces | Everyday Life

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adoption, children, Dana Suggs, Dana Suggs Photography, foster care, foster children, I heart faces, iHeartfaces, photo, photographer, photography, photography challenge, photography contest

My every day life is pretty ordinary.

It’s full of kids.

Lots and lots of kids.

Some mine, some not…..but mostly mine.

It’s full of chores that never seem to end.

Laundry piles that are never empty.

And more laughter

and stories

and hugs and kisses

and FUN

and LOVE

than you can imagine.

Come to think of it, my everyday life is far from ordinary.

It’s pretty darn extraordinary.

I Heart Faces | Heart and Soul

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adoption, blog, children, contest, Dana Suggs, Dana Suggs Photography, Dana's photography, family, I heart faces, iHeartfaces, photo, photo challenge, photo contest, photography

Heart & Soul

How do you even begin to define this?

How do you describe your Heart & Soul?

For me, they begin and end my day:

usually one that has crawled into the bed halfway through the night and is asleep snuggled up against me….

definitely hogging all my covers and may or may not have wet the bed.

They pad around the house in their footie pajamas

or slide around the floor in their socks.

They sneak into the marshmallows I was trying to hide in the pantry

and listen to their music way to loud.

They run out the door to catch their bus with shouts of “I love you Mom!”

and complain when I forget to buy milk.

They discuss excitedly things they’ve read in their Bibles in their Quiet Times

and they laugh and roll their eyes at all my terrible jokes.

I love them all, each in different, special ways and for different and special reasons.

They are not perfect, but neither am I.

They are my 6 incredibly wonderful, funny, beautiful children.

These are my babies, who are not such babies anymore.

The photo is not worthy of any awards, but I’m proud to display it on my walls in my home…..eyes closed, not looking at the camera, hilarity from a good pantsing.  See the little boys desperately holding onto their “britches”?  There’s a reason for that.

Have fun, and love others.

Terrible Anniversaries

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Dana Suggs, Dana Suggs Photography, foster care, foster care system, foster child, foster family, foster home, foster parent, foster teens, foster youth, group home, mentor, teenagers, youth

Next month, my husband and I will celebrate 23 years of marriage.

In August, we celebrated 3 years with our newest children.

We celebrate our 2nd anniversary of their adoption March 1st.

Some dates are worth celebrating!

And some are not.  Not at all.

This week is the 2 year anniversary of #7’s abandonment by his family, his entrance into the foster care system.  His hardest years will be spent trying to maneuver and stay alive and struggle through the foster care system.  Every mistake to be permanently marked and mulled over in his file and openly discussed in court and as often as they can, through his “old family”.  Every gain and triumph to be washed away, ignored, or overlooked.

Or completely made a mockery of and downright lied about.

He just wants a normal life with a normal family.  He just wants to know that he is wanted and needed and loved.  He wants to know that someone, anyone, cares where he is and what he is doing, what he’s learning when he reads his Bible, what subjects in school are giving him trouble right now, and which ones he’s finally getting and understanding.  He wants to play sports and look up in the crowd and see a familiar face that is encouraging him and cheering him on.  The simplest things that most of us, especially our children, take for granted.  My Mom, even now, still calls me to make sure I’m OK, and am I wearing a sweater….”Sweetie, it’s COLD outside!”

This is all he wants.

But, for so many teens in our foster care system, this is just as hard to find as the unicorn….or Big Foot.  Talked about, but never found:  a family.  It’s tragic….and heartbreaking.

#7 may not be able to physically LIVE in my home right now, but he still needs love and support, and doggonit, the Suggs family is going to give it to him.  He needs encouragement, and someone to discuss things with when he’s upset or curious or excited.

He needs someone to applaud him for making it up to a new level at the Boys Home for amazing behavior.  He needs someone to pat him on the back when he’s chosen for “Cleanest Room” or “Best Attitude”.  He needs someone to tell him how great he is for bringing up that low grade!  (Remember, he wasn’t even loved enough by his “family” to be educated.)  He doesn’t need people to make this incredibly tragic time in his life any harder than it already is.  If the road is ugly, don’t make it uglier with lies.

I get it:  teenagers are hard.  They are opinionated, mouthy and think they know everything.  But they still need to be loved and cared about.  They still need wisdom and guidance.

They still need parents.

Please consider being a mentor for a teen in the foster care system.  Volunteer at your local shelter or group home.  Their survival through their teen years depends on it.  Their success in their adult years hinges on it.

• 35% of former foster kids experience homelessness

• 20% will be arrested or incarcerated

• 54% will drop out of high school

• 99% will never graduate from college

We can do better than this.  We should do better.  Everyone can help.

To the “Party Hat” girls of Nash Central High School:

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KKK, Nash Central High School, Nash-Rocky Mount School, Party Hat girls, racial, Rocky Mount

To the “Party Hat” girls of Nash Central High School:

by Christy Sumner Rue

As a mom to 3 biracial kids who live in your hometown, I have to say the now infamous “party hat” picture that went viral compelled me to write this open letter. The fallout from just one picture has become more widespread than anything I have ever seen in the decade and a half that I’ve lived in Rocky Mount. When I saw the picture, I instantly winced but not for the reason you might think.

I saw a group of girls, just being teenagers: doing cringe-worthy things with a group of friends, which is a teenage rite of passage. Making stupid decisions is a part of the human experience that everyone deals with at some point in their young adult life. Ask any adult and if they’re honest, they’ll admit having done embarrassing things when they were younger. The only difference is that most of us did not have cell phones to capture evidence of it or social media to instantly broadcast it to the entire world! (Thank God!!)

Since everyone who has seen the photo has made one assumption or another, I’ll join in. I assume most of you ladies have never seen the depth of racial hatred, even despite the presence of racial tension here in our community. I’m guessing probably the closest thing to witnessing the evil nature of racial inequality is in your history class, like most kids your age. When you see picture of a white man using a fire hose on a group of black people, I bet it feels foreign to you. Like it’s just another story from long ago like Christopher Columbus or Pearl Harbor. Racial issues are probably so far removed from you ladies that it never even dawned on you that your hats might be offensive to some people! I’m guessing you really didn’t anticipate the storm that would come from that one Instagram picture.

Did you intend for your homemade “party hats” to resemble KKK hats? Were you sending a message when some of you made guns signs out of your hands or were you doing what most teenagers do when posing in group photos, like Charlie’s Angels or Kung Fu ninjas? When it was posted a day after the Grand Jury announcement in Ferguson, MO that the police officer involved with the Michael Brown shooting death wouldn’t face charges, was that intended to make a statement to your fellow black schoolmates, the city of Rocky Mount and the nation at large? Or was it just really bad timing by a group of teenage girls hanging out, completely oblivious to what was going on close to 900 miles away? I have absolutely no clue because I wasn’t there and I don’t know you girls personally. But the problem is that people see that picture and they instantly associate your hats with the KKK. Ultimately, they are now associating you, your families and your school with the infamous hate group.

Now that the presumed association with the oldest American hate group has been made, people will assume you come from a long line of hatred that has been passed down one generation to the next. They will probably think that your parents are full-fledged members of the KKK; that they dressed you in little KKK onesies when you were infants and as you grew up, they indoctrinated you at the dinner table about the best way to incite hatred for black people as a whole. Is this possible? Of course, anything is possible, especially here in the South. Is it likely that active members of the KKK would encourage their teenage daughters to fashion white replica hats that did not hide their faces & then post it on Instagram in order to stir up racial tensions? Also, in a high school where almost 50% of the student population is black, not to mention nearly another 10% of the student body were identified as multiracial, does it make sense for you girls to release a photo like this if it were *really* intended to make a racial statement, knowing full well what would await you at school and in the community?

So whether it was just a big misunderstanding, an error in judgment or if you really were making a statement, you are now left to deal with the ramifications. I tell my kids all the time that we are responsible for our actions and how they come across to others, regardless of their motives or intentions. Even if it never once crossed your mind that the party hats resembled KKK hats, it stirred up that very same racial hatred that the people in your history textbooks faced. This racially-motivated rage is completely ruthless and it moves normally well-mannered people to act in unimaginable ways. It causes people to remove the humanity of the targeted group and treat them as objects without feelings or other human qualities. I know that many people say that only white people can be racists, which is a whole other topic, but I can assure you that racial hatred can be housed in any human being, regardless of color or ethnicity. People who have been searching for ways to further their own political and personal agendas now have jumped on this “party-hat” bandwagon.

In an effort to dehumanize you girls, these people have forgotten that some of you are worried about driver’s education classes while others of you are trying to finish up that last paper that was due before winter break. Some of you have now become living targets of political instigators, which is difficult for even adults to withstand their attacks. They have forgotten that you aren’t even old enough to vote or buy lottery tickets! They have accused you of getting special protection from the school and from law enforcement. They say that somehow your parents have some sort of clout over those in authority. Andre Knight, President of the Rocky Mount chapter of the NAACP and Rocky Mount City Councilman, has accused the Nash-Rocky Mount School administration of punishing black students who even “dare to mention” the incident while giving you police escorts. I wonder if Mr. Knight is aware of the harassment and death threats you girls were targets of in the midst of your classes while on school grounds. Also, if your parents were a part of the worst hate group in the United States and really did have power over the school system, why would you being going to a high school where you were the minority?

As a mama, I want to run right over to Nash Central and give you girls a big hug. I want you to know that you are stronger than you ever imagined. You found yourself in a really bad situation that took off like a runaway train. But this WILL NOT be the end of you! This is just a speed bump in your life; one that reminds you to slow down. Take this time to evaluate who you really are as a young woman. Most adults don’t figure it out until much later in life, but you’ve been given the opportunity to define who you are! People have made their assumptions and now you get to prove them wrong. What are you good at? What are you passionate about? What things are important to you? Do you love animals? Take some time to help out at the animal shelter. Are you good with kids? Volunteer at your church’s kids’ ministry or at the Boys & Girls club. This isn’t about “making up” or trying to balance some imaginary scale. This is about making sure that you grow through this whole nightmare.

My prayer for you girls is that you will not allow the hatred that you’ve been the target of to harden your hearts! Remember that not “all” white people are racists raising future racists in order to take over the world. Not “all” black people are violent or trying to blame white people for all of their problems. Do not let the hatred you’ve received turn you into the monsters they’ve claimed you to be! Do not allow this experience to taint your perspective of the world. Racial tensions are perpetuated by both sides assuming the worst, by generalizing and dehumanizing each other. You have the ability to stop the cycle of racial hatred!! Can you imagine if girls your age all over the country decided to stand against racial hatred?

Love,

Christy

This was written by my beautiful friend, Christy, who has a wonderful husband, and 3 gorgeous children!  Thank you, Christy, for letting me share!

I Heart Faces | Bright & Vivid-Dana Suggs Photography

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Dana Suggs, Dana Suggs Photography, Dana's photography, I heart faces, iHeartfaces, photo challenge, photography, photography challenge, photography contest

I’ve missed a few challenges since my Dad passed away, and I really need to get back with it.

This month’s photo challenge theme is:

Bright and Vivid.

Click on the photo to view larger

I had a lot of to choose from with this particular session!  The Bride is a beautiful friend of mine, with a faith that shines brighter than the sun, and a heart as big as all outdoors.

My favorite clients are friends.

To enter your photo, click on the above I Heart Faces logo!

And, always be kind.

It’s hard in the passing…

I just lost my Dad.

Those words still hurt so much to say. It hurts to know he’s gone.

We expected it last year as we went through 9 of his 11 surgeries together, all open heart surgery related. His 12th was to be the Wednesday following his death…again, I was to be there for this one as well. I only missed for sick, contagious children and once on an out-patient surgery for out of state guests. For all others but those 2, I was there, hours on end sitting in waiting rooms, sometimes with children, but most of the time, just Mom and I.

I don’t have many regrets because I was there. For all of his doctors appointments, pre-ops, post-ops, countless lab work, x-rays or CAT scans, pre-surgery, post surgery….days and days, upon weeks and weeks of hospital visits, rehab facilities….until pretty soon, most of my 2013 was filled with Dad.  

Some days were awful, awful days and all we did was cry.  Some days we were so exhausted from all of it, we just wanted to stop, sit down, and do nothing.  Some days were too traumatic and scary to talk about.  Some days we weren’t sure if he would ever leave the surgical room alive….much less the hospital.  One particular surgery in particular was very serious, and Mom and I sat in the waiting room together, alone, listening in shock at the awful news coming from the surgery.  We sat, and we planned how we would break the news to those who didn’t come….and we planned a funeral.  But he did come through, only by the grace of God. 

And the appointments continued, and the visits continued, and life went on, always filled with Dad and Mom and my children.

I started calling them Dates with Dad:  grocery shopping for 2 families, church, hospital, drs appointments, hair cuts, they all ran into an entire year and a half spent with Mom and Dad…..lots of laughter, lots of tears, lots of pain, lots of gas, lots of time, lots and lots and lots of hugs and kisses and prayers…..all rolled into the worst and BEST year ever, full of memories.

Some days are painful to remember, some days are happy and full of laughter and love.  

I will miss him.  His death this time, was not expected, and it hurt more to lose him.

I regret not taking MORE pictures of him.  I regret not taking more pictures of him with my children that are so little and will only remember him through pictures and stories we tell them.  

I regret not going over THAT day and repairing the fence myself.  I could fix a fence, I’m sure of it, I’m my Dad’s daughter….he would teach me!  I could have fixed that fence.  We did everything else together, I could do one more thing for him.  

But instead, I’m left knowing that the very last time I saw my Dad alive, I was at their house doing something for them that they needed.  Usually, when I left, I would go to my Dad and stoop down to him and hug him and kiss him on the cheek and tell him “see you later”.  But this LAST time, HE stood up and he hugged me so tight and he said, “I AM SO PROUD OF YOU.  And I love you so much.  Good bye.”  

I’m sure there was a “have fun” “drive safe” as we were leaving on vacation the very next day…..but he expressed how PROUD of me he was.  And countless times over the year and a half, he told me “THANK YOU” for all I did for them….and there were a lot of “I’m sorry” thrown in too.  He knew it was hard to do it, he knew it cost a lot of time and money to do this and care for my family, and care for a foster son too.  He knew.  He knew who was there.  And he knew what it cost.

But I always told him it was an HONOR to do it.  It was a BLESSING to be there.  And I LOVED it.  And I really did.

You see, God granted us an extra year and a half with him and I didn’t waste it.  We spent it together.

I will never regret that.  

Please don’t waste time with your parents or grandparents.  When it’s over, it’s over, and you don’t want to have any regrets.  Remembrances of them are nice, but nothing replaces that time together.  

I’ll miss you Daddy.

I Heart Faces | Make a Splash

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Arkansas, Dana Suggs, Dana Suggs Photography, I ♥ Faces, I heart faces, iHeartfaces, inner city kids, love, mission trip, Owasso photographer, photo challenge, photo competition, photo contest, photography, photography contest, Pine Bluff, youth, youth group, Youth Mission Trip

Last week, I had the privilege to accompany our Youth group on a Mission Trip to Pine Bluff, Arkansas to work with inner city kids.

We worked in a rough apartment complex with a notorious crime rate.

We were given a list of do’s and don’ts before we left…mostly don’ts.

And then we met the people.

And fell in love.

They just needed people to look beyond the crime statistics, the poverty, and the ugliness.

They needed people to see THEM.

Play with them.

Talk with them.

And love them.

We loved the mess out of these people.

They are wonderful kids.

Beautiful families.

And every town has the same type of area.

We all need to simply LOVE more.

Our world would change if we did.

And that would make the BIGGEST SPLASH of all!

I Heart Faces | All Boy

Tags

adoption, Bible, Christ, Dana Suggs, foster care, foster child, foster children, foster ministry, foster parent, fostering, fostering siblings, I heart faces, iHeartfaces, Owasso photographer, photo challenge, photography, photography contest

When we felt led by God to travel down the road of foster care and adoption, our boys were 15 and 12 years old.

Yes, teenagers.

Yes, I was worried how teenage BOYS would do with this little jaunt down that road.  Teenagers are not known for their unselfish acts of kindness…especially boys.  They are not known for their open arms and compassionate character.

But, God had a huge surprise for me in my doubt.  When He called my husband and I, He also called my sons. In fact, Austin, my oldest, knew before my husband did that God was calling us to do this.  Pretty cool, huh?

So, when the kids came, they were welcomed with all the love in the world!  Because when God calls you, He equips you to do every good work!

Austin has an amazing relationship with his much younger siblings.  So when it came time to do his Senior portraits, it was only natural to look in the viewfinder and find Jeremiah photobombing nearly every photo.

And he tried so hard to mirror what his big brother was doing.  What a beautiful shadow of things to come!  If Jeremiah follows the example and walk of Austin, he will also have a wonderful relationship with his Savior!

I am so blessed to be the Momma of 4 amazing and awe-inspiring boys (and 2 gorgeous girls)!

I Heart Faces | Let’s hear it for the girls!

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Dana Suggs, I ♥ Faces, I heart faces, photo, photo competition, photography, photography contest

In honor of Mother’s Day this month, the I Heart Faces theme is focused on the ladies!

I happen to have one of the sweetest, most beautiful (inside and out) friends at church.

Her and her husband waited for several years for a baby.

The amazing gift came, but she had one of the hardest labors I have ever personally known, and then ended in an emergency c-section.

This poor mother went through so much to deliver a healthy baby.

There was not a dry eye in that delivery room that day.

Such an honor to have been a part of such a glorious time with them!

 

What a gift from God!

Way to go, Evelyn!

And Happy Mother’s Day!