What Happened to Fearfully & Wonderfully Made Photography?

     For a few days I asked myself the very same thing. I logged onto Facebook one night to find a message informing me that my photography site had been shut down by this darling lady we’ll refer to as “Amy”. My mind automatically went to why. Why would someone report my little photography site? I played through every scenario I could think of. I knew for a fact that there wasn’t anything half way indecent. Plus I’ve never said anything that could be interpreted or misconstrued as offensive. And what other reasons would Facebook have for shutting me down?

     Then it hit me. Under Amy’s name it listed her email address. And I will totally admit that my heart sank. (In order to not create any more drama or anything like that, I won’t name her actual email address.) Her email address eluded to her company name… so I googled her. Again, my heart just broke. Now I know what you’re thinking. “Victoria should have looked it up before deciding to name her business.” Oh but I did. Her business name is not “Fearfully & Wonderfully Made Photography” though it is some variation of the name.

     So I contacted her. I explained how when I was praying about starting a business God truly laid this name right in front of me. How God had inspired it totally and completely. How all I wanted to do was create memories and show each and every one of my clients that they were specifically handcrafted by God; they were fearfully and wonderfully made. 

     Long story short, I was left with a dilemma. I could either fight her, and get a friend of mine who is a lawyer to help me research and try to get my site back, or I could give in, change my name, and lose all the progress I had made the very first year. As our correspondence went on, she continued to belittle me and I continued to lose hope. Starting this business was something I knew was of God. But she was making me question it in every way possible. 

     To say that I was heartbroken was quite an understatement. But after I prayed, thought about it logically, prayed again, called her a few names, and prayed some more it was obvious what I had to do. I wiped my tears, and created Victoria Rene’ Photography. 

     I’d love to say now that I’m completely over it all. But I’m not. It still really upsets me to think about it. It’s been difficult to get an entirely new business up and running, as it’s definitely harder the second time around. So here I am hoping that Victoria Rene’ Photography will one day live up to and surpass what Fearfully and Wonderfully Made Photography once was.

If you’d like to help me in making this dream come true, head on over and “like” my new page :) There’s next to nothing up just yet, but there will be soon!

 

https://www.facebook.com/victoriarenephoto

Lord, Here's My Life

       When trying to decide if I wanted to start this blog or not, I told God that I didn’t even know what I would call it. Right on cue the song “Here’s My Life” by BarlowGirl came on my iPod. That’s pretty much when I knew that my desire to start a blog truly came from God.

         I’m currently 21 years old, and in the process of transferring schools. I am studying to one day be a Christian counselor. Over the years, God has shown me so many things that He wants me to do to bring Him glory. The first is to have a career as a Christian counselor. I want so badly to help people who have endured hard times and by showing them the life changing power of God’s love. Others include writing, working with the homeless, and photography. (Weird combination, right?) A few months back I started my own photography business named Fearfully & Wonderfully Made, and I love it! 

        At 18 I was diagnosed with both fibromyalgia and a spinal arthritis. Though I began treatment a few months earlier for Crohn’s disease, the doctors could only confirm a diagnosis of IBS. For those of you who don’t know much about medical conditions, I’ll give you a brief summary. Fibromyalgia is described as constant body-wide pain. Which I definitely agree with. My type of arthritis is a form of rheumatoid arthritis. I have what’s called a seronegative spondyloarthropathy. The seronegative part means that the condition doesn’t show up in my blood. And although the arthritis is in all of my joints, the second part means that the disease is centered in my spine. Crohn’s disease is an autoimmune disease, which causes my immune system to attack my GI tract. I’m literally on a ton of medicine, including a low-dose chemotherapy treatment that I receive through an IV every six weeks. Thankfully I don’t really have any side effects from the infusion or any of my other medications. 

         Being sick has cost me so much and has impacted me on such a mighty way. Because of the severity of both the arthritis and fibromyalgia, I am not only in horrible pain every single second of every single day, but I am also practically bed-ridden. When I say these diseases have taken so much from me, I truly mean it. I used to dance competitively for over 15 years, and I was in show choir in high school. The pain took all that away. It’s affected every single one of my friendships and relationships. I don’t say this to gain pity, or to make you feel sorry for me. I say it to articulate my testimony, and what God is doing in my life. 

        And for now, here’s a little tidbit of information about me : ). Jesus is my favorite thing in the whole wide world :). I’m a member of St. Paul UMC. My mom is my best friend. You can always find me on pinterest! Hehe. I’m obsessed with pearls, cowboy boots, leopard print, and anything teal. I’m involved with a Christian retreat called Vida Nueva (I’ll have a post on that soon!). My boyfriend spoils me : ). I love everything from The Walking Dead, to Pretty Little Liars, no joke. 

       Periodically I’ll post random thoughts, Bible verses and meditations, things I’m going through and pictures from different photo shoots. Naturally this blog will be under construction for a while, but hopefully I can get it just how I want it pretty soon. If there’s anything you’d like to know feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at letsrockkk07@yahoo.com .

All my love,

Victoria Rene’

 P.S.- Here's the video with the lyrics to the song "Here's My Life" : ) 

Enjoy <3