Moments

Pictures.  I take so many.  I'm not really sure why.  The ones taken with 35mm film sit silently in boxes, rarely opened to see daylight.  The digital forms that I have are waiting patiently on memory cards to be rediscovered, placed on our computer for viewing pleasure.  A couple of times I have gone through the process to get tangible prints, not often though.  That's alright.  It's not really the end result that I so crave.  It's the actual moment itself.  I once read somewhere that to create a lasting imprint in your mind of a moment you need to focus on that moment for a specified matter of seconds.  I must not have focused too long on what I was reading because I forget how many seconds were needed for the moment to become lasting in your mind...  Hummm.  I love the above moment captured on camera.  We had just picked up Caleb from his week at camp and Riah was showing him the new space in her mouth.  I remember being so incredibly full of joy to all be together again.  So thankful for taking the time to imprint it in my mind.  It brings back how misty eyed my 10 year old son was when I held him under my arm after being out of touch for 5 days.       

Once I thought my camera was lost along with pictures that I would never have a chance to relive.  For the days that I thought it was lost I retraced in my mind all the pictures that I had taken recently.  I jotted them all down.  After finding what I thought was lost I quickly viewed all of the pictures.  Amazingly all of them were what I thought they would be.  I hadn't missed a one.  It was then that I realized that my memories were made and stored only by the time that I had taken to treasure them.  I learned this lesson well by watching my father.  He has spent his lifetime behind many a lens.  He is fascinated by the wonders of this world and has chosen to capture it through a viewfinder.  He may be the last one to exit a trail in the woods and you may even think yet once again you have lost him for good in a crowd- but it's OK.  His family that knows and loves him wouldn't have it any other way.  He continues to delight himself in the here and now so that we can all share in his memories.  And perhaps if we are lucky we too can catch a glimpse of his awe for the wonders of God's creative genius.  

I may leave my house without my lip gloss or even my wallet, but you will never find me without my camera.  I need all the help I can get to remind me to slow down, to savor time, to create a memory.  Life is so very fleeting.  But then again, I didn't need to remind you of that.  

I am choosing to get both feet wet

 

by jumping in and FEELING every moment 

and seeing how they shape me

and where they may take me.

Lyrics from a song that Michael Card wrote for his children that echoes my heartbeat:

Reject the worldly lie that says,

That life lies always up ahead,

Let power go before control becomes a crust around your soul,

Escape the hunger to possess,

And soul-diminishing success,

This world is full of narrow lives,

I pray by grace your smile survives.

For I would wander weary miles,

Would welcome ridicule my child,

To simply see the the sunrise of your smile,

To see the light behind your eyes,

The happy thought that makes you fly,

Yes, I would wander weary miles,

To simply see the sunrise of your smile.

Now close your eyes so you can see,

Your own unfinished memories,

Now open them, for time is brief,

Andy you'll be blest beyond belief,

Now glance above you at the sky,

There's beauty there to blind the eye,

I ask all this then wait awhile,

To see the dawning of your smile...