Summer Owens

Photo Credit: Dave Taylor

The above photograph is one of my all time favorites. It was taken by our good friend Dave Taylor at Christmas time a few years ago when our fourth child was two months old. This photo conveys so much about me and my life. Family is everything to me. My husband is just as good-natured and relaxed as he looks here. He is my other half, my very best friend. We of course, have our tiffs from time to time but he has set a good example to me of talking things through rationally and calmly. I have grown leaps and bounds since being married to him. I fall in love with him over and over again. He sets an incredible example for our children of hard work, self discipline, honesty, patience and acceptance.

We have four children and each of them began life with just as much wonder in their eyes as you see in the eyes of my son above. My goal as their mother has been to maintain that wonder far beyond their childhood years. Wonder is something that I am still filled with. Life is incredible! It is heart wrenching and turbulent but also miraculous and beautiful. The memory of difficult things I have gone through in my life serves to enhance the positive things I experience. Every day I'm alive in mortality is a gift! And I love sharing that gift with my little ones. Motherhood is certainly not easy but I cherish the souls I have been given. They teach me and bring love and laughter to my heart every single day.

I am humbled and amazed by the many beautiful things God has created to please the eye and mind. I've always had a love for animals and insects and the natural world. Camping and hiking is still a favorite activity of mine when we can manage it and butterflies dancing from flower to flower never cease to make me smile. I try to capture the beauty of my surroundings through the lens to share with others. Photography is just one of many creative outlets. I have always been driven to create in new ways. You might say I am a collector of hobbies. I enjoy crocheting, playing the piano, sculpting in polymer clay, wireworking, cake decorating, coding, graphic design, baking, woodworking, reading, writing and genealogical research. Not all done simultaneously of course. I rotate through these things as the mood strikes. I am very good at spontaneity. I am not very good at managing my time.

I have always dreamed of being a published author and maybe sometime I'll get really serious and give that a go. I have hundreds of characters and their conversations running around in my head at any given time. And believe me, that's not the worst of what I've got running around in my head. I have long struggled with Primarily Obsessional Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and for many years had no idea what was going on. It almost led to suicide and has often led to severe anxiety and depression. I can say now, that though I still deal with it and always will, I often feel peace in spite of it because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the love and patience of God and of many good people, without whom I truly believe I would not be alive on earth right now.