Take a Picture

Hello there! It's great to be back at the blog after a 2 week absence! During my time away I had the privilege of speaking at a wonderful Ladies Conference,  enjoyed some much-needed "girl" time with my closest friend and a lovely day with our daughter and her family. That was followed by a week with my husband visiting our younger son and his family to meet our newest grandson, Owen, who is now 4 weeks old and growing like a weed! We also got to spend a lot of time with our granddaughter Olivia, 2 1/2. We had a GRAND time but it is always good to get home!

When I walked into the YMCA my first morning back, I saw something different. There was a banner on the wall that said "Save a Tree - Take a Picture!" All of the many informational flyers, event calendars, and exercise class schedules, etc. were posted on the wall underneath. The idea is to just take pictures of them with your smart phone to refer to later, rather than them having to make and distribute hundreds of paper copies. Pretty good idea, I thought. These days I use my i-phone to take pictures of everything! If I am shopping and see something for the house that I want to think about or come back to later, I take a picture of it. If I am out shopping for clothing or other items for someone else and have choices, I take pictures of the items and text them to the person so they can see them and tell me their preference, instead of me just guessing. I take pictures of products that I want to remember to look for. I also take pictures of recipes and instructions, rather than copying them down. SUCH a convenience!

Of course, I do also take pictures of family, events, celebrations, and trips. Actually, I take a LOT of pictures. I have become known as the person who can be counted on to always be snapping pictures. My husband is used to me hurrying to catch up with him because I stopped to take a picture of something. However, I also am a scrapbooker and to date have created approximately 16 albums which are very special to us. The grandchildren as they are getting older especially love them. And my philosophy is, the more pictures you take, the more good ones you will have available to use when scrapbooking!

Our recent trip was no exception, so here I am posting just a few of my favorite pictures:

In spite of the many memories that I captured by taking pictures, there are many more moments that I simply have preserved in my heart. The beautiful afternoon at the park with my granddaughters and them sitting on the bank of a creek with branches pretending to "fish" and "reeling them in" with shouts of glee and laughter about how many they were catching. Talking with my friend until the wee hours of the morning. Looking out into the audience at the ladies' conference and seeing the faces of  friends I had not seen for a long time. The moment when I saw my husband standing at the curb of the Delta Arrivals at the Atlanta airport, after I had navigated my way alone through the Atlanta city traffic to pick him up. Seeing our tiny newborn grandson for the first time. The imaginary play and funny conversations I had with my toddler granddaughter. And on and on they go, replaying in my mind.

I think this is what the writer of the Gospel of Luke had in mind when he penned the words in Luke 2:19: "And Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." I have always loved that verse. The word "pondered" means to "treasure" or to "store up." Mary the mother of Jesus was obviously a woman after my own heart. She loved to treasure the memories, to tuck them away in her mind where she could recall them time and time again.

In order to "keep all these things and ponder them in our heart" we have to be intentional about living in the moment. So many times we are thinking about our to-do list, our plans for the rest of the day or for dinner that night, and our minds are a million miles away rather than on the here and now. And in the process, we miss out on so many things. We become so focused on the days that we miss the moments. We have to determine that we are going to focus on enjoying the moments and make a conscious effort to store up precious memories in our hearts.

So moms and grandmas, don't be too busy or too distracted to enjoy the moments. Leave the dishes or the laundry and play a game. Go for a walk, color a picture, listen to a song, go down the swing or on the slide. Hug your husband,  talk to your teen. Take a picture - with your heart. You'll be glad you did.

Joyfully,
Kathi