The Church is made up of Christians from a myriad of different professions, and yet their ordinary tales of God at work rarely get told. In this series, we bring you stories of faith on the frontline
My name is Britta Marie and I am based in Jersey where I work as a wedding photographer. Every day varies greatly. What people often misunderstand is that only about 25 per cent of my time is actually spent using a camera and working with people. The other 75 per cent is made up primarily of editing, emails, admin and marketing. While the majority of my time is spent working alone, I have a unique frontline – a wedding day!
The biggest challenge that I face is working in an often fast-paced and unfortunately high-stress environment. On the other side of the coin, the biggest opportunity that I encounter is to bring peace into an otherwise chaotic environment – whether that’s through the work I do in advance of the day to minimise the stress on a couple, or stepping in to fix a problem before they realise there is one! I’ve sewed a bride’s wedding dress after it ripped moments before the ceremony, helped bridesmaids steam their dresses when they didn’t know how to use a steamer, and mastered pinning buttonholes for grooms who can’t seem to figure it out. Obviously, none of these tasks fall under my job description, but it’s often the little things that can mean the most to someone – especially when they’re feeling nervous.
As a Christian, I have an overwhelming desire for people to see themselves the way that God sees them. Especially as I’m often working with people who hate being photographed or worry about how they look in pictures.
I always pray for the couple on the morning of their wedding. I ask God to help me see moments of real connection and capture meaningful relationship and, most importantly, that when people see their pictures, they would see themselves as God sees them – unconditionally loved and, as it says in Isaiah 43:4: “precious and honoured in [his] sight”.
Please pray that I would cross paths with the right couples, that God would provide little pockets of opportunity for me to share him in my interactions with those people, and that those I photograph would feel God’s love for them through the pictures they receive.
Britta was speaking to Paul Woolley
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