Paul and I have always enjoyed working together. It seems that these make some of the best times to share thoughts, plans and ideas.
Last night was no exception. We were up way into the night working on a project Paul was hired to do, making a video montage for a couple that will soon be celebrating their 40th anniversary. Friends and family gathered almost 400 pictures together for this special couple to represent the important moments and people in their lives.
As I worked, Paul and I were touched by the tender moments in the life of this couple that were captured by the camera and each picture was more and more a reflection of the lives that these people had lived.
It has been a thought that has lingered with me. If someone were to put all the moments of my life together in this way, what would it reflect? Would you know that I’m happy? Would you know the struggles that have defined every part of who I am? Would you know the joys that have washed over me like a cool breeze on a hot summer afternoon? Would you know that I have a faith and a love for my Lord and that my purpose in all, is to serve and to honor Him in all I do?
My life has never been easy. Though, it could always be so much worse….things have just not been easy. I am learning that it is these moments and my response to them that creates the fragrance of my life.
Tanya sent the following quote to me this morning. …Tanya! I’m going to be adding this one to the quote collection! Thank you so much for sending it along!
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”
– Lewis Duncombe
I hope that I’m discovering who it is God created me to be. I hope that if there is an occasion when someone is looking through my pictures, they would know who I am. I hope that in those pictures, they see a person who is always learning, always laughing, always loving and always desiring to walk the way that I should …straight towards my Lord.
Prayer Requests
Please continue to keep Roberta in your prayers concerning her test results on Monday.
Little James, son of Nate and Nayda.
My upcoming date with the oral surgeon.
For Paul, he stayed up way too late last night working and then had to get up this morning to go into his day job.
Today, I’m Thankful For
Paul has a meeting with our business mentor this evening.
Tanya received wonderful news yesterday! Her daughter, Kara, will no longer have to wear a brace for her back! They said that the improvement had been enough so that they were very encouraged. I know that this is a HUGE relief for this family.
The opportunity to help my husband with his video project by entering the rest of the pictures into the computer for him today.
My chubby faced, two year old who makes me giggle when he shows up at the office door wearing Mr. Potato Head glasses!
The web work that Joshua finished for Paul yesterday. It’s incredible to watch my 12 year old doing things that I haven’t figured out yet!!
Tracy’s Task
Working on someone else’s pictures has given me a renewed desire to have mine organized. I’ve started it several times, but it becomes overwhelming to me so I put them away for a while. I am thinking that I would really like to go through them and pull out pictures, especially of Paul and I, and start Joshua on a new video project!
Until then, if you don’t have your pictures organized or placed into albums, there aren’t very many things more important. If not cared for properly, photos don’t last as long. You want to preserve these things so that generations from now, people will still know you and the details of your life.
What I’m Learning
This video has been no different than any other that Paul and I have done. The pictures that are the most touching aren’t the ones in a photographer’s studio, they were the candid shots taken at special moments in this couple’s life. It really made me think about trying to remember to have my camera around more. There are so many moments I miss….things that I would want to remember 40 years from now. I’m going to look into getting a back up card and battery for my camera so that I can capture more of these special moments in the life of my family.
Today’s Scripture Meditation
Of faith passed on:
2 Tim 1:5
“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
(NIV)
How do we teach generations from now who we are?
Deut 6:5-9
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.
(NIV)
That all our generations may know Him,