Marvel At The Light

June turned 8 months old earlier this week, on Monday the 12th.  Brooke and I are constantly looking at each other and saying, "How do we have an eight month old already? HOW!?"  It's flying by and while most parents say, "Oh...just stay small forever."  I say, "Grow! Let's start walking, talking and playing!"  Every time June develops something new in her repertoire of tricks I love it! Especially since I have never been a huge fan of just holding babies because I like to play. And the more June is able to play the more I love being a dad.

Whenever June celebrates another month of life Brooke and I grab our iPhones and snap a few shots to announce it to the internet world!

This time around we took her outside to shoot a few photos of her in the grass being super cute and as happy as she always is!

I can't even. 😭😍

I can't even. 😭😍

After a few photos in the grass I wanted to grab a selfie of the family.  So Brooke picked up June and we turned the camera around and snap!

This is the photo we took.

Look at those light rays being all brilliant and beautiful. They were not added as a filter, they were just in the original photo.  I looked at this photo over and over again after we took it I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the goodness of a loving God. The brilliance of His light and love is always around us. Most of the time it goes unnoticed or ignored. Sometimes though, if we are looking through the right lens, we can see it, capture it and marvel at it.

The spectrum of light is always around us.  Our eyes normally can't see it's beautiful colors but every now and then, either through a rainbow or a camera lens, we actually can see it.  By seeing or capturing it, we don't create it's beauty, we just acknowledge it.  The beauty is always there.  We just have to look through the right lens to see it..  

Jesus is the light of the world and the beauty of His grace is always there for us to see, but we have to look for it.  We have to train our eyes. Often, I think we feel that the beauty isn't there, but I really believe that we just aren't seeing it.  God's beauty shines all around us all the time and we just need to take the right snap shots to catch it, see it and enjoy it.  We need to realize that the beauty of light isn't a product of our circumstances but a truth of our heart.  So even when darkness clouds our world, we know that the light is shining in our changed hearts.  That we can count it all joy, even in suffering, because our world doesn't dictate the light in our lives, but the unflinching, unrelenting love of Jesus does!

Later in the afternoon on Monday, I took this photo of June with my phone...

As followers of Jesus we need to always be doing two things.  We need to constantly be seeking the light. Whenever Brooke and I go for a walk, she is always going off course to find the best light.  All of a sudden she will stop mid-sentence and walk off to look at the way light is coming through the trees or shining on a wall.  It's what makes her a brilliant and amazing photographer.  She is constantly looking for the best light -- because that creates the best photo.  And sometimes we need to go off course and find the best light -- because that will create the best life.  We need to find the light in everything so we can show the light and love of Jesus in everything.

The second thing we need to do is just marvel at it - marvel at the light in all it's brilliant, sparkly glory.  I snapped that photo of June because she was doing just that.  She was just marveling at the light as it came through our front door windows and landed on our wood floor.  Most times, I really struggle at simply marveling at the light God has created around me.  I pack my days full of work, play and everything else, but rarely do I just marvel.  Rarely do I just sit back and thank God for the beauty of His unending grace and love.  I think we need to add more marveling in our lives.  Have you ever seen a group of people all looking in one direction.  You start rubbernecking to see what they are looking at.  Cause you gotta know what they are marveling at!! We, as Christians, need to start doing the same thing.  Let's just marvel at Jesus and I think people will start to rubberneck and ask us what we are looking at.

When we start to search out and marvel at the light I think we will start to see our lives being refreshed over and over again.  We will see beauty where most people see despair.  We will see joy when there is suffering.  We will see Jesus in all and through all.  And when we see the light we can direct others to see the it too.

So today, marvel in the light. Be drenched in the beauty and brilliance of it's rays over and over and over again.

Hey Christians! Stop Hating On Christmas!

Early to mid October always seems to usher in two things.  The first is peoples obsession with anything Pumpkin Spiced flavor. Seriously everyone, calm down. You burn your mouth once on a PSL and you'll rethink how delicious they are when you feel hot, burning rage on your tongue.  The second thing to happen is the start of Christmas decorations popping up in large stores which seems to bring a different kind of hot, burning rage to some.  This always baffles me.  

You know the type of rage I am talking about.  Christmas haters saying things like....

"And so it begins..." (Insert photo of Christmas decorations at Target).  This is usually followed by a million comments on how it's too early...blah blah blah.

"It's not even Halloween...."

"What happened to Thanksgiving..."

"I can't listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving...."

And so on. Lots of snarky complaining and eye rolls.  But here is my response...

AREN'T WE CELEBRATING THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD COMING INTO THE WORLD? WHY THE CRAP WOULD WE WANT TO LIMIT THAT CELEBRATION?  DON'T WE CELEBRATE THAT ALL THE TIME? WITH OUR LIVES?

Okay, calm down T.J.... <caps lock off.>

Christians can sometimes be the grumpiest, most negative people in the world and it's so frustrating.  We currently live in a societal enviornment where God is being removed.  You can't pray in school, you can't say God Bless America, let's take "one nation under God" out of the pledge, and so on. BUT! Here we have a holiday, the biggest holiday at our disposal to proclaim the good news of a savior and WE ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW EARLY IT STARTS?

WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE?

Why not use it?  Why not use the fact that Christmas starts earlier and earlier to proclaim the saving grace of Jesus!  Yeah, I know that it is commercialized and all that stuff, but I think people can start with a commericalized holiday and end with Jesus.  I believe people can start with buying gifts for others and end with the gift Jesus bought for us.  I totally believe people can start with receiving gifts from others and end with receiving life from Christ.

Christians, wake up!  We have the opportunity to use the biggest holiday on the planet to proclaim the coming of the King of Kings and we are often too busy complaining.  Gah!  Let's celebrate the birth of Jesus whenever we can and however we can.  Let's use Joy to the World playing in Target as we walk the aisles as an opportunity to praise His Holy name!  Let's use gifts, candy canes, stockings, trees, lights and parties as a starting point that will end with the lives of our friends, family and strangers being saved by grace!  Let's use standing in that dark, cold Black Friday line as an opportunity to talk to the people in front and behind us about Jesus. (That's seriously a great idea, because there is no way those people are getting out of that line.) 

Stop complaining and start using all things Christmas to point to all things Jesus!

And while we are at it. Let's start using all holidays as a launching point for procaliming the power of saving grace.

Let's use Halloween to talk about the darkness of the world and the light of Jesus.

Let's use Thanksgiving to talk about the ultimate thing to be thankful for - grace.

Let's use New Year's Eve and day to talk about starting fresh when you give your heart to Christ.

Let's use Valentines Day to talk about how we can only start to be truly loved when we let Jesus take control.

Let's use Flag day to declare that the banner or flag over us is love.

Let's use Arbor day to talk about how He is the vine and we are the branches.

The list can, and does, go on and on and on.  Because God can use anything to proclaim His glory! ANYTHING!  SO LET'S START USING EVERYTHING AND LET'S START WITH CHRISTMAS COMING EARLY THIS YEAR! <caps lock forever!!!!!!>

10 Easy Types Of Instagram Posts For Your Business (With Photo Examples)

If you want to grow your business today you need to be on Instagram.  It's just that simple.  I know that it can be overwhelming to create good, consistent content on a daily basis, which is what you need to be doing, but I am here to help!  Posting once every two weeks just won't cut it.  If you need a general introduction to how to use Instagram for your business check out my previous post here - 10 Tips On Using Instagram for Business.

This post is to give you specific ideas for the types of photos you should be posting.  I think the categories are universal for any business, with a little tweaking here and there.  At walk in love. we basically recycle these 10 type of posts over and over again and you could do the same for your business.

10 Easy Types of Instagram Content For Your Business:

A photo posted by walk in love. (@walkinlove) on

1. Super Basic Product Photos

This is about as easy as it gets when making content.  Literally just post photos of your product/service.  If you sell t-shrits, post photos of those t-shirts.  If you sell tables, post photos of those tables.  If you are service based, like a photographer, post the photos you take.  It's about as easy as it gets and we do it all the time!  Simply put - post photos of the product you are trying to sell, duh!

A photo posted by walk in love. (@walkinlove) on

2. Creative Product Photos

Just add a little excitement or style to the traditional product photos.  One way we do that is folding the shirt in half and filling in the other half with buttons.  We also do it by taking "outfit" photos from above.  It's a way to highlight our products but it isn't just the same as every other product photo we post.

A photo posted by walk in love. (@walkinlove) on

3. Working Photos

Show people how you do what you do.  We do this a lot of different ways.  We will take photos, like the one above, of our team signing, "thank you" on our orders.  We will take photos of Brooke taking photos for campaigns.  We will take photos of our mailers all stacked up and ready to go.  Show people how you do what you do from time to time!

A photo posted by walk in love. (@walkinlove) on

4. Workspace

Along with showing them how you do what you do, show them where you do what you do.  People love seeing behind the scenes things and knowing where there favorite brands work.  It will also help you keep your workspace clean and organized :)

A photo posted by walk in love. (@walkinlove) on

5. General Encouragement

Add value to your followers feed by encouraging them.  Things like "Yay! It's Friday!" or "Have an Awesome Day!"  General encouragement goes a long way.  Make sure it lines up with your brand and isn't out of nowhere.  For walk in love. we use our app VRSLY to create that content and encourage people as they walk with Jesus.

Fight the good fight!!! #walkinlove #iwearwalkinlove 📷 @roxymoure

A photo posted by walk in love. (@walkinlove) on

6. Reposts

When people use your product and take a photo of it.  Repost it.  We are pretty picky about our reposts and make sure the photo is good quality and well shot to repost it.  You should be the same way when you have lots of reposts but at the beginning you should try to repost anything that is out there.  If you want better content to repost send out free things to good Instagrammers who will do a good job with it!  We send out free items all the time to good photographers so we will have great stuff to repost!

7. Giveaways

Giveaways are a super easy way to grow your followers and bring in new customers. We try to run a giveaway every weekend and always try to giveaway things in twos.  To enter people have to follow us and tag a friend.  That way we are telling our fans about the giveaway and they are turning around and telling even more people for us.  It's also a great way to find people to post things about your company.  If you want good photos to repost pick good Instagrammers to win the giveaways!

A photo posted by walk in love. (@walkinlove) on

8. Lifestyle

Get "Instagrammy" and post a super unrealistic lifestyle photo of the cup of coffee you are drinking or your coffee table perfectly organized, like it always is 😂.  We all know these types of Instagrams are totally staged, but they are still beautiful.  Add some lifestyle to your feed!  It will also give your followers an idea on how they should be posting photos, which will give you photos to repost!

A video posted by walk in love. (@walkinlove) on

9. Videos

This is the type of post that we really struggle with and always say, "we should do more vidoes.." I think the variety it adds to your feed is good.  People also interact with videos.  They are more likely to get shared or passed around.  If they are funny people will be more likely to comment and tag friends.  We don't do a lot of videos but we know they have value and are trying to figure out an easy way to add them to our feed.  You should be doing the same!

10. Reminders

We are telling people that they can buy shirts on our website and that we have actually have a website EVERY SINGLE DAY 😂.  I always laugh because I feel like it should be obvious that you can buy the shirt we are posting about, but hey, some people need to be reminded.  We remind people about everything.  Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, check us out on Pinterest, don't forget about our sale, did you enter our giveaway and so on.  Most of the time we use the text portion of the instagram to remind people and post it along with the one of the type of photo mentioned in points 1-8.  You will always have to remind people of what you are doing.  We try to limit it because people will get annoyed with an overkill of reminders, but you still have to have some!

That's it!  10 simple, easy types of content to help you know what to post to Instagram. If you need more ideas on a specific type of post for a specific business let me know in the comments and I can reply with a couple of ideas I have for you.  Make sure to include your Instagram user name so I can take a look at your feed.

When you start to use Instagram well, you will start to see your business grow! 

If you have a product that you would like me to try and post about you can send it to

walk in love. studio c/o T.J. Mousetis 148 E. Stiegel St. 4th Floor Manheim, PA 17545

I wear a size Large shirt, Brooke wears a Small and June wears 6-9 months. 😄


Life is a Marathon...

I have never run a marathon, only two half-marathons.  From those two halves I know, deep in my soul, that running an actual marathon would be the worst.  I can't imagine finishing either of my half-marathons and turning around to run it again.  Even thinking about it now makes me cringe...  

I remember training for my half marathons.  I prefer to run at night because I am not one of those people who can get up at 5am and run.  I can barely walk at 5am so running is out of the question.  I am a night runner and when I was training for the half I did most of that training at night.  It made me feel a lot more hardcore than I actually was because in the cover of night everything seems more hardcore than it actually is.

There were training sessions where I would run and from the first step to the last step I felt awesome.  I was super-duper-running-boy!  Happy, jamming out to some sweet tunes and feeling good about everything.  I would think that I might even run an extra mile because I felt so good.

....And then there were the training runs were I felt like each step was worse than the last.  These were sessions where I was convinced that my bones were going to fall out of my body and someone would have to come and scrape me off the concrete.  During these sessions all I wanted to do was quit, give up, throw in the towel and vow to never run again!

Training is hard because you are doing it without any of the glory of competition.  No one was watching me train.  No one was cheering me on.  Somedays it felt good, somedays it felt terrible and most days it just felt like a chore.  But without training, without discipline, I couldn't have run the actual race well.  I had to make time for training if I ever expected to finish the race.  I couldn't just show up and run without those hours spent training at night.  I would have failed without my training.

Even with all the training I did I still felt like I wanted to quit during the actual race.  People were cheering, holding up signs and handing me little gatorade cups of water and at times, I wanted to stop.  I didn't think I could make it.

And, man oh man, that is life.  Even with all the training and discipline we practice in life we still just want to quit at times.  We just don't think we are going to make it.  Sometimes it is just the absolute worst, like running a marathon, or in my case a half-marathon.

The first time I ran my half marathon I remember realizing how different the start and the finish were.  When the giant group of runners started we were peppy, excited and motivated.  Everyone looked fresh and ready.  I remember the first mile just going by like it was nothing.  Not only did it fly by but I was flying while running it.  I was almost two minutes faster than the average I wanted to maintain during the race and I still felt really good.

It's so much fun to start something!  Whether we are starting a weight loss program, house project or new business.  Starting is awesome. We have our new outfit or fresh idea and we think we are going to just dominate everything!  We have lots of fans at the beginning and I remember thinking at the marathon, "look at all these people, this is so cool!  I am going to CRUSH this race!!!"

Then the middle of the race came....and my feet started to hurt, my joints started to ache and I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere.  The mass of runners had spread out and the fans were gone.  My pace had slowed....

Middles are the hardest and sometimes they are longer than we will ever imagine.  We think that starts will last forever and we will just keep riding the high that comes with a start!  But that high won't last and when we realize that we are in the middle of it all, it becomes more difficult.  The cheering fans are a little more spread out, the wins don't seem as exciting and we feel like the end will never come.  The middle of the race is the most important part though!  The middle shows how much you trained, how dedicated you are and how much you want it.

If you are in "the middle" of your marriage this is when it really counts!  This is when you have to grind it out, keep it exciting and do the things you promised you'd do at the beginning.

If you are in "the middle" of your business this is when you have to turn it up a notch.  This is when you have to seek new opportunities and ideas.  This is when you might have to sacrifice a little more of your time.  This is when your business will either succeed or fail.

The middle matters and I remember as I was running just thinking, "okay, one more mile..."

Just one more mile...

Just one more mile....

Sometimes life isn't exciting, we don't have fans and we just have to push through.  We have to live with the idea that we just need to make it one more mile, one more step or one more second.

And just that is a win.  Just the one more mile is a win, even if it doesn't come with any glory.

The middle of the half-marathon was long!  Oh my word, it was long!  I remember saying one more mile from mile 3 until mile 11, thinking that the end would never come.  At mile 11 of 13 I remember thinking my hips were going to explode out of my skin and I was going to collapse.  The first two miles and the last two miles of the course were basically the same in reverse and what a difference.

When I started I was fresh and excited and when I ended I was delirious and exhausted.  At the beginning I thought I could go on forever and at the end I thought I couldn't take another step.

And then....

The lady pushing a stroller past me....

And then....

The 85 year old man with no legs past me....Well, he had legs but was still very old..

But guess what?  That lady or old man being more successful than I was didn't mean I was failing.  I was still at mile 11 with my goal in sight.  I think we can believe if someone is better than we are at whatever we are doing - we are failing.  That's not the case and when we play that game we will always lose.  Comparison is the thief of joy and when you are at mile 11 you need all the joy you can muster.

I remember when I saw the finish line.  I sort of forgot about all the pain I was in and I realized that I had done it.  It didn't look like I had planned.  I started too fast, slowed in the middle and finished a lot slower than I wanted to, but I was finishing.  I remember seeing Brooke in the crowd and feeling even better.  Finishing something is always better than not finishing, even if you didn't do it exactly how you wanted or even how you said you would.  If I had quit in the middle when no one was around I wouldn't have felt the feelings I had as I moved toward the finish line.

If life is a marathon, which I believe it is, you can count on a few things happening.  

1. Starts are always exciting.

2. Middles are grueling.

3. Finishing is awesome!

Sometimes marathons are the worst, but they don't last forever.  You will get through them.  You will conquer if you trained well, prepared and stay focused on the goal.  Sometimes you will have a PR (personal record) and sometimes you will finish slower than you even thought possible.  Sometimes the old guy with no legs and the lady pushing the stroller will fly past you.  But don't quit.  Finish and finish well.  

And here is the coolest part of the marathon of life.  You don't have to run it on your own.  I had to train, run and finish my half-marathon all on my own.  I couldn't have anyone run it for me.  But in life I can!  I can take the marathon of life and trust Jesus to help me run it.  I can take all the burdens, bumps and bruises and give them to Him.  He will take both you and I to the best finish we could ever hope for.  When we run with Jesus we realize how important and amazing the middle is.  It's the time we get to cheer every other runner on.  We get to take their hands and try to help them, motivate them and bring them into the arms of Jesus.  The middle is magical when we stop running on our own and run with the King of Kings!  So, let's run this race of life and run it really well.  Let's run it hand in hand with the giver of life and actually bring life, love and light to this world.  We may be sore at times and there will definitely be some doubt, but let us constantly look to Jesus so our burden can be light as we run and we can do all things with Him in front! 

I don't want to run for myself anymore.  I don't want to run so I can tell people how good I am at running.  I want to run so I can bring glory to Jesus!  I want to love my wife so I can bring glory to Jesus! I want to love my daughter so I can bring glory to Jesus!  I want to run my business so I can bring glory to Jesus!  I want to eat well and live healthy so I can bring glory to Jesus!  I want to do it all for Him!  Running on my own is exhausting and I am ready to run with Him.  Who is with me?

"But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace." - Acts 20:24

 

Why My Wife Is Awesome!

Today my beautiful, amazing and super talented wife, Brooke, turns 29.  I thought I would use this day on my blog to highlight everything that is amazing about her and why I love her so much.  If you love love, you'll probably really enjoy this post.  If not, learn how to, because love is awesome!

Every year I think to myself that I cannot possibly find more to love about this woman that said "yes" to marrying me over six years ago, but every year she surprises me with a new facet of who she is and what she is all about.

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Brooke is hardworking.

She isn't that fake version of hardworking that people are really good at being now-a-days.  You know the type.  They like to talk about all the things they are going to do and all the cool things that are "in the works."  Brooke simply isn't like that.  She's the actual hardworking type.  She will do whatever she needs to do to get a job done.  When she was 10 days late with June we had some orders that needed to be picked and packed and even though I told her I could handle it, she insisted on being there and working even while being SUPER pregnant.  She is constantly working behind the scenes of everything we do with our companies.  And while I am often the one getting the credit or praise for things walk in love. does it is usually Brooke who is working along side of me, just as hard, to pull it all off.

Brooke is always trying to make things better.

Brooke loves to cook and is really freaking good at it. Thank you homeschooling! She is constantly trying to cook new things and come up with new concoctions. Lately, she's been making her own almond chocolate bark.  So, it's a good time to live in our house!  The thing I love about Brooke is that after almost anything she cooks she always says, "I already know how to make it better."  That's her attitude about life.  It's why she is such a great wife, mom and creative.  She is always pushing herself to make things better and never just settle into the mediocrity that so many people seem to get stuck in.  It's so inspiring! Because when I see her wanting to be better at what she is doing it makes me want to be better at what I am doing. 

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Brooke is humble.

I always like to say that I am the best at being humble.  Humility does not come easily to me.  I don't know if it's the great hair, killer smile or....Uhh..I am getting off track.  Brooke is so humble.  She is so good AT EVERYTHING.  You want to lose at a board game? Play Brooke. You want to know where your furniture could be better placed in your house? Ask Brooke. Want to make the best cookies ever? Ask Brooke.  You want to learn how to do something, anything, better do it with Brooke.  She is so talented at so many things and she succeeds at almost everything. However, she lives her life clothed in humility and it's so cool to watch.  I learn everyday what true humility looks like.

Brooke is so creative.

I am constantly amazed at what Brooke creates.  Whether it's photography, home decor, design or just about anything else.  Throughout the six years of our marriage I have watched her grow as an artist and create beauty in all circumstances and all situations.  Brooke isn't just a great photographer. She could plan the photoshoot, style the outfits, do the hair, make the flower crown, draw the signs, add the graphics, update the website and send out the marketing material...SHE IS FREAKING AMAZING AT ALL THINGS CREATIVE!

Brooke is an amazing mom!

I love the way Brooke cares for little Junebug.  She is so sweet, caring and selfless as she looks out for our sweet little girl!  She is constantly making June laugh, giggle and scream with joy!  I love watching it everyday.

Brooke is beautiful.

This one is pretty self explanatory.  I mean just look at her!  What a total babe! How did I ever get so lucky!?

To Brooke on the day you turn 29...

Thank you so much for adding so much love, joy and excitement to my life.  I praise God every morning that I get to wake up next to you and walk hand and hand through every day.  As we walk through your 29th year I want you to know that I will love you more with every step.  You are  the light of my life and I absolutely adore and love everything about you.  Happy Birthday Sunny!

Don't Miss The Little Moments Today!

Every morning I hear June on the monitor "talking."  I don't know what she is saying and most of the time she sounds more like a creaky door than an adorable baby.  I sleep a lot heavier than Brooke, so Brooke is already awake and either getting up to get her or tapping me on the shoulder to get her.  When it's my turn to get her I walk to and open the door, trying not to trip over one of our cats, Leo, as he sprints into our bedroom.  A quick stop to the bathroom and then I slowly open June's door.

And there she is, smiling, happy and usually looking right at me as I turn the corner into her room.  It is one of my favorite moments every single day.  After I say, "Good morning!" to her a few times I try to change her diaper with my morning "zombie hands."  Then I pick her up and take her into our room so we can spend a few precious moments together on the bed as a family before we start our day.

This is not a big moment that we share everyday.  There is nothing overwhelming about it.  Actually, if I am honest about it, it's probably not very pretty.  My hair looks like a rats nest, my eyes are sealed shut with crusties and I have an oversized sleep shirt on that is not flattering.  Let's just put it this way - it's not very "instagrammable."  😂 But it is the highlight of my day almost every day.

I could so easily miss this moment every single day.  I could be too tired, too busy or too "fill in the blank."  I have to choose to enjoy that moment everyday, not miss it, but enjoy it.  Our lives are quick and can fly right by before we know it.  We have to take time to acknowledge the wonderful, little moments in our lives. When we start to acknowledge them we can appreciate them.  I think when we start appreciating more little moments in our lives they will start to get better.  People who are overflowing with joy usually see the beauty in the little things.

So today, stop, take a breathe and acknowledge those little moments in your life.  Look up from your phone and notice the people around you in those moments.  Smile at them, ask them how they are doing, tell them you love them.  Appreciate them because life isn't all big moments.  Actually it's rarely big moments and most of the time the memories we cherish are in those sweet little moments that can just fly by if we let them.  So, today I challenge you not to let them.  Don't miss those little moments.  Cherish them, enjoy them and love them.

Little June - Always Smiling!

Little June - Always Smiling!