Okay, here goes.

So, I am not your typical blogger, poster, or writer. In fact, this is the first time I have ever done anything of this sort. Normally my "captions" or status updates consist of maybe a sentence or two – and tend to be more profound than lengthy or descriptive.

I speak through pictures.

Now, I realize that may sound boring, or like an excuse to post a lot of unnecessary pictures. Although this may be true, I believe there's more to the story than meets the eye.

A couple of years ago I chose to enroll in the OneLife Institute, a Gap Year Program based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Prior to that year, my mother encouraged me to buy a small DSLR camera to take pictures during my travels in OneLife. I agreed, and invested. Throughout the year I took many different pictures of our travels and began to actually find joy and purpose behind the lens. I didn't think I was any good in particular, but I just kept snapping away because, why not? I learned here and there, but kept my camera on auto mode for most of the time because I had no clue what I was doing. I saw some things that I liked, and snapped a picture.

After my year of traveling was done, I was amazed at the amount of people asking me to take their pictures.

ME? Seriously?

They must be crazy.

I was no good! I often would spend time marveling at the grandeur of photos on Pinterest and Instagram, and think, "Man, maybe one day I could get to be close to that!" I strove for more knowledge and information about photos and photography. I would spend hours on blogs or on YouTube just learning as much as I could. The first thing I came to understand was that my camera, although small and mighty, could not pack the punch for real competitive photography.

Thus, more research.

One day, I found myself at that first camera shop I had ever been to, where I had gotten my first DSLR camera. I thought to myself, "Maybe they do trade-ins?"; "Geez Louise I have no money..."; as well as "DANGIT, these are expensive!". Thats when I prayed for the first time throughout this experience. I stopped, and all I said was, "God, if this is your will, let it be known and done in your name, Amen".

Just then a friendly voice arose and asked, "Hi! How may we help you today?" After a long explanation, we walked around the store and looked at many different options of cameras and lenses. At the very end of our tour, he pulled me aside and said, "Hey listen, I can tell you have done your research... Let me show you this". The owner pulled out a used Mark 5D II (for those of you who don't know, this is a very nice DSLR camera) and proceeded to tell me all about it. Hesitantly, I told the man I would think about it and maybe come back in a few days.

Those next few days were the longest days of my life. I did some more praying and kept asking God for his will to be done no matter what the outcome of circumstance. I decided to go back after a few days of thinking it over and decided to bring my father, just to make sure I wasn't getting ripped off.

Four Thousand Dollars.

That amount rang in my ears for the longest time. How on EARTH was I to pay for all of that!? The owner had not mentioned the price to me prior to that day (nor had I asked), but feeling heartbroken was an understatement.

"Get it."

The words rang so clearly in my brain, although I had not heard anyone say those words outside of that. So many questions ran through my brain but I knew that it was the Lord's words, not mine. I made a deal with the owner to make weekly payments until the debt had been fully paid, in the meantime the camera would be held in the shop.

I prayed, and prayed, and prayed. "God! Was that the right thing to do?!"; "Did I just jump off my own bridge?"; "I can't take it much longer, show me!" Without fail, The Lord answered my prayers.

A strange voicemail rang out through my house as my mouth dropped in bewilderment. It was the camera shop! As I listened to the voicemail, confusion described my every thought. The voicemail stated that my order was and had been ready for me to pick up. I had only ordered the camera a few weeks ago, and I had barely started paying for the investment. "Whatever," I thought to myself, "I'll just go over tomorrow and tell them what happened." The next day, as I was getting to the counter to make a payment I explained the voicemail to the cashier and told him that it was fine, I was just informing them.

All of the sudden, his eyes got big and he said, "Oh! You're Taylor! Well, here you go!" and started packing my camera in a box. As this scene was unfolding, I questioned him and asked if he was just pulling a really good (not so good) prank on me. "NOPE," he declared loudly, "Someone came in and paid for your camera!"

My heart stopped cold. Could this be true? I looked to Heaven and whispered, "God? Is this for real?" Just as the thought escaped my mind, the boxed merchandise was placed in front of me. I asked, "You've got to be kidding, right?!" The man answered, "Nope! Go, and be blessed!".

I received the camera in the Lord's name. Many adventurous, miraculous things have happened since then and are still happening today in my life through photography, but the greatness of God surpasses all of those things. God is real folks, and He is here.