Now Booking Photography Sessions!

Hey everyone!

I am back from my much needed break and am scheduling photography sessions for the spring! I took some time off to focus on the ministry that launched last year (crazy it’s already been a year!) and it was SO timely. God has been doing some hard, beautiful things in my life and taking time to press into what He was asking me to do was just the thing I needed. I said ‘no’ to a lot of wonderful things, but it was so worth saying ‘yes’ to the very best things.

As #IKnowHim continues to grow and move forward in sharing the Gospel through stories that communicate God is real, He is here, and He is good, I am beyond thankful for the support of everyone regarding my photography business. It is an incredible provision that allows me to stay home with my babies but also to put my heart and soul into teaching, writing, and communicating in ministry. When I was thinking about this, I remembered the verse from Ephesians 1:16 that says, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” I am so overcome with gratitude so often for those that pray for me and my family, and those that support the business that allows me to do the work He has called me too. Your support is making an ETERNAL difference.

All that to say, I am back and so ready to finalize my shooting schedule for the spring. Because of the doors God has opened with the ministry, I am going to be very intentional about booking a limited number of sessions so I can give my absolute best to everything and everyone I commit too. I am beyond thrilled to get behind the camera again and celebrate LIFE and all its wonderful moments and seasons with you all. To celebrate, I am kicking off this new year with a GIVEAWAY! And I hate just having one winner and it’s my game so here’s how this is going to work:

Reserve your photography session (may be scheduled any time in 2017) BEFORE Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14th in case you forgot ;), and you will receive a FREE 8×10 print from your session, of your choosing. Why before Valentine’s Day? Because this is the PERFECT gift! For EVERYONE! I guarantee your mom, sister, cousin, best friend, girlfriend, aunt, etc. will be so thankful AND you will get bonus points for already having a credit for a free print!

Like I said, these spots are LIMITED so email me {rachelsweatt (at) hotmail (dot) com} ASAP to reserve your spot! After I receive your email, you will get an invoice for the session and as soon as that is paid I will send you a free downloadable print to give if this session is a gift! Just be sure to let me know in the email! And if you are not looking to give a session as a gift but just want to treat yo self to a session and some incredible photos of the people you love, you get a free print too! So DON’T WAIT! These spots go super fast and I to give away as many free prints as I can!

Here is the session information:

-Up to an hour of shooting time (2 locations)

-50 edited, high res images

-Copyright to print

-Redeemable through December 31st, 2017

-FREE 8×10 Print of your choice IF reserved by Feb. 14th

-PRICE: $200 (due at time of reservation)

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support. It means the world to me and I cannot wait to hear from you!

All the best,

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Becca_0038

Weddings

Alan + Heather

This wedding was an absolute dream and this couple is even more delightful! They are head over heels in love – and even more than that, they love Jesus. Although everything was incredibly beautiful and Heather was absolutely STUNNING, my favorite thing about their celebration was that it was completely covered in prayer. Before the ceremony, Heather and Alan prayed with Heather’s parents and after the ceremony, there was prayer between the new bride and groom and after the ceremony their family covered them in prayer yet again. Throughout the night, I caught glimpses of dear friends and family coming to pray with them, and I could not be more excited for them to begin their journey this way. Marriage is a beautiful thing created by God and for God, and when so many people are praying for you and a blessed marriage, there is undoubtedly much wisdom and grace in the future. The details were executed flawlessly and the celebration was one to be remembered. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your big day, friends! I am so honored to serve Jesus with you both and cannot wait to see what He has in store for your family!

All the best,

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Uncategorized

Collab with FV

Interested in collaborating with Rachel to advertise/sponsor on Forever Vibes? GREAT! We love working with businesses that inspire, encourage, and have unique products/apparel to offer! A collaboration will expand both your audience and the blog readership, so it’s a win for everyone. And it’s FUN! Here are a few ways we can work together:

–Product/apparel review Rachel will only review products she would potentially buy herself, to maintain integrity of the blog. All reviews will be written honestly. If for some reason we do not feel like it would be beneficial to publicly review your product, we will choose to withdraw from the agreement.

–Giveaways Terms of entry may be negotiated between both parties involved. All samples are non-returnable once received.

–Social Media Campaign Terms of entry and compensation may be negotiated between both parties involved. All samples are non-returnable once received.

–Sponsored post Rachel will only create content for products she would potentially buy herself to maintain integrity of the blog. All samples are non-returnable once received. Terms for compensation may be negotiated between both parties.

–Sidebar Ad Variation of sizes available for a flat-rate purchase. Contact Rachel for more information.

QUESTIONS? Email rachelsweatt@hotmail.com for more information or to get started on your collaboration!

Rachel maintains full editorial control over any collaboration post or campaign on the blog.

Adventure, Personal, Uncategorized

A New Adventure

Welcome to the new blog! I just wanted to take a few moments and update you guys on the new content and fill you in on the transition from my photography blog! For quite a while this new blog has been an idea and after much prayer and patience, I felt like it was the right time! I have been doing so many things the past year and have decided to consolidate my photography blog with a personal blog, so I have the freedom to share more with you all. I am so excited for this new adventure!

Forever Vibes was chosen to be the namesake of this blog because I realized that the common denominator to all the things I loved doing was that they had deeper applications and were strongly correlated to love and joy. The heartbeat of this blog is basically celebrating the things that matter. A variety of content is headed this way, from photography to faith to the pursuit of an abundant life – through creating, laughing, and growing- my hope is that you would leave always encouraged to celebrate what matters. Here’s to new adventures and new friendships! Please say hey in the comment section and tell me some things that you are currently celebrating, I’d love to hear from you!

Be sure to check out the About Me page for more information AND a link of my favorite posts to date!

All the best,

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Family, Personal

Easton James Sweatt

Hey friends! So I have been MIA from the blog for a while now and I am excited to say that I am back and excited for what’s to come! I wanted to take a minute and briefly (or not so briefly) give a little update as to explain the radio silence! 😉

You know what, I think I’ll just show you a picture. They’re worth a thousand words, right?! 🙂

THERE. THAT IS WHY I HAVE NEGLECTED YOU, Internet. I’ll admit I do play favorites when it comes to people that I GROW. Ha! Friends, I am so ecstatic to introduce to you for the first time, my second son, EASTON JAMES. Born on July 30, 2015 at 9:29…Go ahead, take a few minutes and let his sweet face make you feel all warm and fuzzy…I’ll wait. 🙂

Now a little back story for this precious, prayed over, and fought for babe. Back in April when I was 26 weeks, I had some preterm labor symptoms and had a short hospital visit and was told to you know, take it easy (with a 2 year old). I did as I was instructed and trucked along miserably sick and hurting, contractions remaining steadfast. Fast forward and at 33 weeks I was not expected to make it to 36 weeks, a crucial milestone in pregnancy. So ‘bedrest’ it was! Well, as much as you can do with a toddler. 😉 As soon as I left the doctors that day we called in our beloved prayer warriors. Everywhere I went, everytime someone asked how things were going I enlisted them to our team of intercessors. Every believer I came in to contact with I basically begged to be a prayer warrior for our little guy. Our friends and church family were exceptional in their response to pray for us. Friends, I was absolutely miserable this whole time but this was such a great experience for my own walk of faith. I have never felt the power of prayer more than throughout this difficult season. I literally could feel myself being carried through every day by the prayers our brothers and sisters were lifting up on our behalf. It was amazing…prayer will never be the same to me.

The week after that I landed back in the hospital, labor progressing. After 3 days and tons of shots to attempt to slow labor and steroids to help our sweet baby’s lungs develop, we got to go home STILL PREGNANT! I 100% believe this was because of our prayer warriors. Our God is SO good and the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Over the course of these few weeks, I realized just how many of our friends are righteous. I cannot believe the incredible people that surround us- people of holy pursuit. I have always been thankful for our friends but I have come to be thankful for their boldness and steadfastness in the faith in a way I had not truly appreciated on such a deep level before. Our family was also incredible fantastic and pretty much lived with us the last two months to make sure my big little was getting enough attention and our house didn’t fall down. Bless them. And send them coffee and chocolate if you see them, they sure deserve it! 😉

Days passed with contractions and nausea ALL DAY LONG. And after what seemed to be a BILLION YEARS, we made it to 36 weeks! HUGE answered prayer…and God was so glorified. Our friends celebrated the milestones. And to be honest my prayer almost instantly changed from ‘keep this baby in’ to ‘GET THIS BABY OUT NOW!’. I’m not dramatic. 😉 I was so over it and ready to meet this little guy. So finally, at 38 WEEKS we got to meet our sweet little man, healthy, screaming his (extra strong-thanks steroids) lungs out, and quite the chunkster compared to our first one (thanks Taco-Villa).

It is the sweetest feeling in the world to know that this is us, these are my people, this is my tribe. Our sweet Emmett has been the BEST big brother. He has the most compassionate heart towards his little brother and is so proud. He loves to hold him and sing to him while he pats (occasionally squeezes) his head and hold his fingers with the softest touch I’ve ever seen. This is truly a gift I do not deserve and while I know that I am fully inadequate to raise these men, I am so thankful that God can override my mistakes and is ultimately the one who will guide their hearts.

So friends, thank you for your patience and your prayers as we walk into this beautiful new season of life. Thank you for your patience with emails as I am usually feeding or chasing someone. 🙂

A letter from mommy…

Sweet Easton James,

Oh my beloved boy. You have been prayed over and fought for. From day one you have been given the gift of love and compassion. You have been covered in the prayers of the saints. We waited for you and imagined all that you would be and look like, and could not wait to hold you and see your big brother love on you as only big brothers can. The Holy Spirit led me to pray for BOLDNESS for you in our season of waiting. I pray that you will lead boldly and love boldly. I pray with all my heart and soul you seek the wisdom of the Lord and get your strength and faith from living in the Word. The verse the Lord gave me for you was Proverbs 28:1, that you would also be as “the righteous are bold as a lion”. Part of this makes my flesh anxious, because I know that boldness requires some sort of fear or risk as a predecessor. But sweet boy, this makes my spirit soar! I cannot wait to see all the things you will do for the Kingdom. I am so blessed to get to watch you grow and borrow you for a while as you grow into the man you were created to be. I cannot wait to watch you fall in love with our Jesus and discover your burdens for the world and people he has entrusted to you. I love you, sweet Easton. You are a difference maker because you are a son of God. Lead and love well, son. You are so dearly loved.

Family, Seniors

Luke + Senior

Remember that one time my brother in law got a risky haircut for his senior pictures that nobody knew what to think about at first because it made him look SO GROWN UP and then we all got over it and loved it?! Yeah. This was it.

This handsome guy is my crazy fun brother in law, who Emmett adores and Trae is slightly shorter than. 😉 He is crazy talented and loves Jesus (just like his brother). I am the ONLY one in their whole family that does not have one ounce of athletic ability. But that’s another story…about how all I had to bring to the table when we got married was a love for Jesus. And talking. And food. (Eating it, not cooking it.) AND THEY LOVED ME ANYWAY! 😉 It has been such a blessing to watch this young guy who used to only love Nascar, Furrs, and Walmart grow into a young man of God with many loves, including a huge heart for people. It is crazy to me that he is graduating and is ready to be an ADULT in real life. I know that God has created him for such a great purpose and I cannot wait to see how he walks out his faith in this incredible new season. Congratulations, brotha! WE LOVE YOU!

Family, Seniors

Erin + Senior 2015

Oh my goodness friends I cannot begin to describe how FUN this sweet girl is! She is graduating from Wellington and going on to play basketball in college in Kansas! She is not wasting any time spreading her wings and jumping into this new season. She was an incredible athlete (obviously) so we took some photos at some of her favorite places with the BILLION medals and trophies she has won. I have never won anything athletic IN MY LIFE. I may or may not have asked what it felt like to be a winner. 😉 We had such a great time during her session and I absolutely LOVED getting to celebrate this season with her. Congratulations, Erin! You are FABULOUS and I have no doubt you are going to keep winning at LIFE. You go girl!

Be blessed,

–R.

Give Me Jesus, Uncategorized

GIVE ME JESUS// SUNDAY’S COMING

Easter brings more newness and revival to me than any new year ever could. I love that as a believer I get to experience the anguish and sorrow of knowing that is was MY sin that put MY Jesus on the cross, and even though he didn’t have to, he stayed there for me. I am so thankful that I get to be brought back to my place of unrighteousness right at the feet of the One who is most righteous. I get to experience the sorrow of Good Friday with the added advantage of knowing that Sunday is COMING.

I think I share this video every year via social media but the phrase ‘Sunday’s Coming’ has come to mean SO much to me. Obviously first it reminds me of the most glorious day in human history when our beloved Savior defeated the one thing every human considers so final and reminds us that with Him is does not end and absolutely nothing could hold him back from COMING BACK FOR US. Second, it has come to be a sort of kick in the pants. Sounds sillly but knowing that Sunday is coming during Easter has resonated with me when thinking about every other day in the year, years. Yes, Sunday came. And so will the day when Christ comes back even more victoriously than the first time. And it is my duty as a follower of Christ to go out and do everything I can to prepare everyone he has entrusted to me for the day of Christ. To make sure that every soul within my sight hears the Gospel and is told of the sacrifice, the cross, and the love so free given to them.

It is one the enemy’s most tactful ways to hinder the harvest that is so ready. To make us feel like we have all the time in the world and to put off the one thing that absolutely MUST be done before we come face to face with our Creator. So, as we approach Friday and mourn our own sin but with the expectant knowledge that SUNDAY is coming, I encourage you to run passionately to do that is that God is asking or has been asking you to do. Every second of our time is precious to both God and Satan. Our Victor and our enemy know that ‘Sunday’ is coming. How would your life look differently if we lived like every second was being fought over for eternity’s sake? How would we see our world, our neighbors, even strangers differently? How would our priorities differ than they might be currently? The work is too great and the risk too high not to consider this.

Please take 3 minutes and 39 seconds to watch this (CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO) sometime this week. Let me know your thoughts! I’d love to have this conversation with you. What does Sunday is Coming mean to you?

Be blessed friends,

–R.

Give Me Jesus

GIVE ME JESUS// In Our Midst

“The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

‘Fear not, O Zion;

let not your hands grow weak.

THE LORD YOUR GOD IS IN YOUR MIDST,

A MIGHTY ONE WHO WILL SAVE;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love.’ ”

Zephania 3:15-17, ESV

I am so excited to begin our new weekly feature called Give Me Jesus with this particular Scripture. The intention of this segment is to share what God has been teaching me from my personal study time, raw and honest, straight from the overflow of my heart. And hopefully, you will share your thoughts or what God has been laying on your heart as well with everyone in the comment section! I love it when the online community gathers together to share encouragement and wisdom and wanted a spot to offer that here on the blog so please join in on the conversation!

I so encourage you to grab your Bible and pour over these verses again and again these next few days. Anyone out there feeling the heaviness of this world lately? The darkness that seems so deep there is a struggle to remember that we are children of the light and the victory that comes with this sweet privilege? I ask these questions because both my hands have been up at one point or another lately. The Lord is so sweet to give us His words to remind us whose we are in times like these. The passage above is the one the Spirit led me to when I was feeling the weight of our temporary circumstances, and was so uplifted by the encouragement I knew someone else needed to hear it.

The Lord MY God, YOUR God, OUR God is within our midst. HE IS HERE. His presence is tangible. He is not a God that is out of our reach. I feel like sometimes we forget that our God is ALIVE and his Spirit lives in us if we have a relationship with Him. This, I’ve come to realize is a trap from the enemy. What if we really believed we were in the presence of the one true Living God 24/7 and had full access to the same power that raised our beloved Savior? The short answer…A LOT of AWESOME things for the Kingdom would happen. The enemy does not want us to remember our power and the Presence that we walk in daily.

Not only is my God ALIVE AND WITH ME, WITH YOU…he is the mighty one who WILL save. This part of the Scripture is so powerful if we will remember it. His word tell us he WILL save us, no matter how bleak things may seem and ‘His every word proves TRUE.’ There are tons of things that can change in the blink of an eye in this world but there is one thing that does not. And that friends, is that is that GOD WINS. And if we choose Him to be our life while we have ours, then that means we win too. The darkest evil cannot compete with the tiniest bit of Jesus you have in your heart because thats how great and powerful HE is. This is also something Satan would choose us not to remember. That at the very mention of the name JESUS he and his demons flee (James 2:19) because that’s how great and powerful HE is. That’s how powerful His NAME is.

He is not TOO BUSY with the things seen or unseen to wrap his arms around his children and comfort our fears by His LOVE. His tangible presence that carries his LOVE to us. The love of our Savior is in our midst right now, friends.

Hallelujah, what a Savior. 2015-02-25_0001

What are your thoughts on living life in the midst of the Creator? Is this something you struggle to remember or does this come naturally to you in your day to day life? I’d love to hear your perspective!

Be blessed and stand firm in the faith, dear friends.

Weddings

Mr. + Mrs. Mead

Oh my goodness, where do I start with these two?! When I met Breanna and Preston for their engagements session, I knew they were going to be an amazing couple to photograph, and looked forward to their wedding every since! And let me just tell you…it did not disappoint! Breanna looked absolutely STUNNING in her bridals and I was so in love with her style and could not wait to see it displayed in a celebration of their love.

I’ve mentioned before that details make the day…and this was no exception. Breanna’s love for peacock feathers (LOVED!) came through in her beautiful decor and I loved absolutely every one of them. Another aspect that made this celebration so beautiful was the honors they gave her father who passed away two years ago. The family filled his seat with a rose and his boots with flowers and love for his daughter and her new husband. There was not a DRY EYE in the house. It was so beautiful, and you could feel the love that Breanna and Preston shared throughout the whole day. Their first look was one of my favorites, it NEVER gets old watching two people who have waited so long for this single moment finally get to soak it up!

Congratulations friends, thank you so much for giving me the honor of documenting not only your special day but this beautiful season of your life! Praying for blessings over your new adventure together,

–R.

Venue: Starlight Canyon

Flowers: Shelton’s

Cake: The Cake Company