The Celeste Elizabeth

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Meet Celeste
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The Collins

I was so excited to capture my friends and their newborn, Logan!

I am now booking photo shoots! Inquiries can be sent to lesteelizabeth@gmail.com.

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xoxo,

Leste

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Meet Celeste

My name is Celeste Elizabeth and I'm so glad you're here. I hope in this space you find words that encourage you, resonate with you, and inspire you. I hope that when you're done here that you would do something brave, something out of love, or something you believe will make the world a better place. #LetsDoMoreOfThat

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two years ago: i was insanely jealous that @jjbravesfan bought a girl at the bar a drink on behalf of B for Valentine’s Day. But thanks to that moment, we had a conversation that changed everything. a year ago: Milo got an eye infection and we got on a plane (only being married for about 3 months) to come to WI to see if this would be a good career move for B and a good move for our new family. today: it is -13 (feels like -28) and two years have gone by and I’m really thankful. I’m really thankful that things are usually way more than they seem in the moment, and that there are millions of new beginnings I wouldn’t have guessed or fathomed. Happy Valentines Day, B. You’re my absolute favorite and I love you more than anything. Also- please tell me there isn’t anything crazy happening in our lives this V Day and that I’ll be in my pajamas by 6pm?! 🤍🤍🤍 #BlesteForTheRest #BlesteAdventures #WeAreTheEdwards

Yesterday she would have been 98. I miss her from a deep place I can’t explain and I can’t wait to hear her say “I love you, darlin” again. - - I’m grateful her life was long and a model of faithfulness and love. I’m grateful my picture of her is always one that is sentimentally regal. Im grateful the home she created and kept was one I always wanted to be in. Im grateful for the way she loved my Dad (and all her kids) and how she raised the best parent I could ever ask for. - - I told her that a couple days before April 10th, 2019, when she made her way to heaven. I was really struggling not being there in person, and a gracious hospice nurse told my Dad sometimes it’s helpful to let family members say goodbye over the phone. She wasn’t conscious, her breathing was so slow, and my Dad held the phone up to her ear for me. On the floor of our closet, I sobbed my way through my gratitude to her, how much I loved her, and how sorry I was that I wasn’t there. That was probably the hardest “see you soon” of my life so far. - - But at the same time I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful for her life, how many years and how many memories I had the privilege of sharing with such an amazing woman who loved me even with my emo bangs and heavy eye liner, who was a professional storyteller and could remember things from years ago. I’m grateful for the assurance that she loved God and that she’s been dancing with my Grandpa Max everyday. It’s still a celebration of life for her birthday, and for that I will be forever grateful. #NanaBurnhamWeLoveYou

I’ve realized and seen that we sometimes act the same way with church that we do with our materialistic possessions or personal preferences. How we measure value and effectiveness of our work out programs and what we prefer to purchase at the grocery store is the same way we talk about the different facets of church. - - The same way we decide if we want to buy something is the same way we evaluate if worship was good or not. The same way we constantly refine and add to ministries is the same way we over turn our decor when it’s gone out of style. The same way we talk about how good or bad our meal was is the same way we talk about a sermon. Is it valuable to me? Or not? Was it good? Could it have been better? Was it worth my money? Or was it worth my time? - - And then when we are really in deep, it becomes less about the thing and it becomes all about people. Has God anointed them? Is this really their purpose? Are they gifted enough in this area? And when we don’t approve or when we don’t see as much “progress” as we think their should be we quickly slip back into our adolescent selves that can’t help but talk behind people’s backs. - - But who in the heck are we to say? I promise you, you might be happier in church if you do what @anniefdowns counselor told her to think about. If you try to remember that everyone sitting next to you, running around you and on stage is doing the best they can with what they have. - - We can be a cheerleader instead of a critic. We can be open instead of opinionated. We can love others and not lose them. We can figure out how to support them instead of sniping them with hurtful words and assumptions. We can make it about people and not about praise. - - In these moments of quiet frustration, I remember what He’s wired me for. I wake up every day with an ache that there’s people who don’t know Him yet. People who may have turned away because of all this. Because they’ve seen people hurt or they weren’t accepted into the club. We don’t have to fake it, but we also don’t have to justify our dirty hearts and hands. So let’s wash them and start fresh. Let’s let go of our opinion and just love people, let’s do more of that.

sunshine and 46 degrees makes spring feel much closer than it is! But the groundhog didn’t see his shadow right?! so Spring is actually here?? I sure hope so. This snow needs to melt and our nightly walks need to come back. we took Milo out to release those pre game jitters...GO CHIEFS ❤️💛 #ChiefsKingdom #SuperBowlLIV

they’ve been together for five years, and they’ll be our friends for life. ♥️ #SMEDWARDSforever

The past few days have been really hard. I’ve cried more in the past 5 days than since we moved from COS to Appleton in April. Some of it is because I love people, and I am so happy for certain things in their life, certain decisions being made, certain transforming moments. Some of it is because I am scared of the future. Some of it is because I am missing things. Most of it is because I am heartbroken watching people I love walk through unimaginable grief and simultaneously I am awestruck at their hope for heaven. My counselor had me start doing visualization prayers. She told me to close my eyes and picture handing things over into the hands of God...my hopes, my dreams, my pain, and my grief. The first time I did it, I didn’t last more than a minute. I saw myself open the front door, and He walked in. He handed me a cup of coffee and we walked into the living room. I thought we were going to sit on the couch but we went straight to the floor. He just opened His arms and I opened my eyes. I’ve always had this very tangible visual of God letting me lay my head on His chest like my Dad would let me do when I was having a bad day, when I was crying or upset. I see the parallels all the time. Seeing that my sweet Dad was created in the image of a loving, gracious, understanding Father who works to make all wrong things right and loves Him way more than I ever could. These past few days I’ve been reminded of that over and over again, that God is loving, kind, gracious, understanding AND He does make all wrong things right. Which is probably also part of the explanation for all the tears. I think it’s easy to believe that a belief in God translates to a rigid religion. And while liturgy can and does serve a very intimate purpose, I would trade all my moments of religion for any moment of love. Where it’s that feeling and vision I’ve had of a string connecting my heart to Gods. Where it is that feeling that the space between heaven and earth is thin, almost so that we can taste it through the moments where we whisper to ourselves “i think this is what it will be like”. Continued in comments...

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