Love First | Ashley + Lara

Last month I had the honour of documenting Ashley and Lara's wedding day.  They both looked stunning in their wedding attire (inside and out) and had beside them a wonderful group of ladies (including a former bride, gotta love seeing a familiar face!!).  It was an absolute pleasure working with you all, nothing makes me happier then preserving such precious memories!And on a more personal note:  Being from a small (mostly) conservative prairie town it wasn't surprising to see my Facebook feed light up with both support and dismay over the recent law changes in the United States.  I came across this post and found myself nodding and exclaiming EXACTLY! as read it."No issue brings out so much hatred from so many [Christians] as homosexuality.  The level of hatred around homosexuality is nearly unbelievable to me, especially when I think of all of the wonderful LGBT friends I have.

The Church must do a much better job of teaching what the Catechism says: that we should treat our LGBT brothers and sisters with "respect, sensitivity and compassion."But God wants more. God wants us to love. And not a twisted, crabbed, narrow tolerance, which often comes in the guise of condemnations, instructions and admonitions that try to masquerade as love, but actual love.Love means: getting to know LGBT men and women, spending time with them, listening to them, being challenged by them, hoping the best for them, and wanting them to be a part of your lives, every bit as much as straight friends are part of your lives.Love first. Everything else later. In fact, everything else is meaningless without love." FR. James Martin, SJ