A Week With Our New Insta-Friends

If we were to create a list of the most common to answers to the question “Where did you meet so-and-so?”, you would probably see things like this: we went to school together, we met at church, we met through a mutual friend, we met at a conference. Right? Normal stuff like that. Well, as of this week, we can add a new item to that list: we met on Instagram. Yes. That’s right. That Instagram. The social media platform where you upload square images with captions detailing the events of your life including the Pinterest recipe you are trying for supper. That Instagram.

Believe it or not, that’s how we met our new friends Kristy & Vic from Miami, Florida! We can’t remember how exactly it happened. The relationship has slowly grown over the course of the last 8 months. We know one of us started following one of them on Instagram. They commented on a few of our photos. We commented back. A few emails were exchanged. We really grew to admire their work. And they have an awesome dog that they love just like us! Everything was good.

Then one day we got an email saying they really wanted to come to Greenville, meet us, check out Greenville and Charleston, and maybe hang out with us a little bit! We almost fell out of our chairs!!! Someone wanted to meet us?? But what Kristy & Vic didn’t know was that at the beginning of this year, we had been praying for real relationships. Specifically, we had been praying for relationships with husband and wife teams who could pour into us as we poured into them. So when we got this email, it was a direct answer to prayer. So of course, we said YES!!! They asked what hotels were good in Greenville. So of course we said they would stay with us and there would be no argument about that!

After another 2 months of planning and waiting for the day to come, Kristy & Vic arrived at our doorstep and we met them for the very first time! We have been told that inviting someone you have never met into your home for a week is an idea that could have gone badly. But it just seemed like the right thing to do. And friends, let us tell you, we are SOOOO glad we did! We had an absolute blast! We LOOOOVE having people in our home! And this was the first time our newly-decorated guest room got a visitor staying for a whole week!!!

On day 1, we explored our hometown of Greenville!!! #yeahTHATgreenville represent!!! Kristy & Vic were amazed by how nice everyone is in Greenville. More on that later. We showed them Falls Park, centrally located in the most beautiful downtown in the U.S.A. And of course, when four photographers are walking around, what were we doing? Taking pictures!!! What else??! Then we took them to one our favorite frozen yogurt spots in downtown Greenville, Blueberry Frog. So refreshing! Apparently it was so refreshing we were able to get a few group photos!

That night we got a little more dressed up for a few more pictures and an AMAZING dinner at a popular restaurant in d’town Greenville called Smoke On The Water. Oh my goodness. We had never actually been there. We have had their catering at weddings many times and it has always been delicious, but there is no replacement for the real thing!

On day 2, we made the 3.5 hour drive to Charleston, SC! Kristy & Vic had heard so much about Charleston but had never been there, so we got to show them the amazingness that is Charleston! On our way there, a kind soul flashed their lights at us indicating that there was a police car coming up and that we should slow down. Kristy & Vic had never heard of such a thing! They said that in Miami, no one would care about people like that! We are so glad we got to introduce them to real southern hospitality!

Charleston really speaks for itself. When Kristy & Vic saw it, they even said they might move there! We did just about everything we could have done in one day. We walked down every street imaginable including Rainbow Row, a set of houses each with a different color. We explored the market. It was super hot that day (unless you’re from Miami like them!) so we stopped for ice cream. We didn’t really need an excuse to do that anyway because we all love ice cream!

We spent the rest of the week eating, fellowshipping, playing Phase 10, eating more, taking pictures, and just getting to know our newest friends! We got to introduce Vic to one of Ryan’s favorite places, Mellow Mushroom! And we even got to shoot an Anniversary session for them!

When the time came for them to go, we were so sad. It was the perfect amount of time to spend with them but it was so sad to see them go. We had such an amazing time of fellowship. And eating. Did we mention the eating? Kristy & Vic, we don’t know how it’s possible to love people we have only known for a week as much as we love you, but it’s true! We are already planning to go see them in Miami before too long!

Before this week, if you had told us we would find a wonderful couple on Instagram, meet them for the very first time 8 months later when they would come to stay in our home for a week, and that we would have the best time ever, we wouldn’t have believed you. But now we do. The power of social media is strong. The power of giving what little we have to others is strong. And the power of fellowship with people who understand you and know what you are going through in life is even stronger. Let us encourage you. If there is someone you think you should reach out to today, whether it be in person or on Instagram or anything in between, don’t hold back. There is a pile of blessings waiting for you on the other side!

*please excuse our iPhone photos. Vic has such great selfie skills, that we couldn’t resist a few!