Kacey Luvi Creative Productions

Here is Ben, the second oldest of the Rahn kids. I have been so blessed to know this family for the past 14 years. The Rahn family has been the most influential and monumental forces in my life since I was 14. I was a freshman in high school, struggling to find my true identity and following wherever the wind would blow me. I became a new person, with a new personality depending on who I was hanging out with at the time. I was one person at home, another at school, changing with every day. My greatest desire (as most 14 year olds) was to be accepted and liked. I was willing to go to any lengths to accomplish the task. My mom strongly encouraged me to attend a church youth group…. and when I say strongly, I mean she was not going to back down. She was seeing a repeat of her life in me (and it scared her). She noticed the patterns of boy-craziness, lewd language and an overall consumption of myself. It was all about me. Everything. Amidst this destructive behavior I saw as “like…. totally normal…”  I found myself attending a small youth group in the basement of a church in Sioux City on Wednesday nights. Against my will, but as a people pleaser, my mom was no exception. I wanted to make her think I cared about God. Let’s be honest. I didn’t care about God. I cared about me, my friends, boys, me ..and me. To my surprise, I found myself actually interested in the lives these students led. Jim and Roxie Rahn led the group and made life about God the most attractive life I had ever experienced. I was elated with the genuine, sincere love they had for the students and struck many questions in my little bird ME-brain. “How do I know where I stand with God?” “Can you really know if you are going to heaven?” “Why are you so excited about Jesus?” These are the questions I remember asking Jim that night after I had been attending youth group for about 2 months. His answers were clear to me that night. My life changed. My eyes were opened. If you’ve ever asked yourself the same questions, here are the answers: You can easily know where you stand with God. It takes faith on our end, and grace on His end. As I was stuck in the world of ME, separated from God with no desire to have a relationship with Him, I was full of what has divided man and God since creation: sin. It’s ugly, but it’s not just the big sins we think about. You know the ones: murder, adultery, grand theft. Unfortunately for us, any sin is big enough to divide us from God: selfishness, jealous, anger, impurity, bitterness… things we experience on a daily basis. Scary enough, any sin deserves death… that’s how serious God is about sin. However, Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is great news for us, meaning that even though we have been divided, we can be brought back into a relationship with Him because of the death of Jesus, and of course, Jesus conquering death. You can rest assured knowing that Christ’s death and resurrection is strong enough to secure a place for us in heaven when we accept this truth. Romans 10:9 says, ‘That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This calls for faith, given to you only by God. This is also closely followed by a changed life, a 180 degree turn from your old life and taking on new direction, purpose and vision (the desire for this also given to you by God). 1 Corinthians 5:17 says: “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Have you ever wondered… what makes Christians so excited about Jesus?? What’s the big deal? Well, simply put, Jesus is everything. Without Jesus, there is no Christianity. Without Jesus, we would not have the evidence of God in human form, taking on the nature of a servant and dying in our place. DYING IN OUR PLACE! And that is not our physical death.. we will all experience a physical death. This is much more. He stood in our place for the death and rebirth for our spiritual souls… that means forever.. eternity. All the more reason to ask yourself these questions like I did 14 years ago. Yes, it’s hard. Faith is challenging, but God’s grace is so unbelievable… it HAS to be believable. Too good to be true? That’s grace. This is what I was beginning to learn 14 years ago. My life has gone through much fire and refining since then with ups and downs, but it started in the church basement with Jim and Roxie. God was there, as He is everywhere. With giant alligator tears in my eyes, I thank the Rahns for being willing to share this truth with me that has forever changed my life and secured my place with Jesus in heaven someday.

I love this one… Ben is so goofy!Ben’s sister, Rachyl, jumped in for a shot while he changed! I was loving this lighting and love to photograph pretty girls in pretty light. She’s a natural.Jessie… what a gorgeous young lady, with amazing eyes, perfect smile and the best hair ever!Gabe… probably the weirdest Rahn, but that’s what makes me like him so much. hahahah You’re awesome, Gabe!I love you all so much!!