Photos Photos Photos…. So this task, I have chosen for myself, was to bring home and do in “my leisure time” is sort sort sort…  It is a natural part to help with cleaning up that farmhouse, and after scanning letters from family history projects, I’m now on the photos task (that I assigned to myself) and have been sorting and even sending some out to family members – especially thinking of the children who are now 25 years older – and their families – for them to have photos that remind them where they came from and of the love.

You could think it is a little overwhelming, but it is not hard – it is developing a system like I have – and just digging in – right now I am in the 1990’s and sorting into spring valentines, easter, fall and winter holiday scenes, and then group photos – my aunt is most interested in group photos… It’s such a blessing of memories – and even to look at them now it is a surprise to see things that I don’t necessarily remember but there is a photo of me in it. In sorting big bags (still in the envelops) we think these are duplicates – but we want to sort before we toss. [and there are mixtures of papers here too like tax returns and the such – and just now I found the eulogy given at my great uncle’s funeral – sometimes it is too much to keep but that I will send along to his daughter…] And so with all this sorting I end up taking like 25% of photos to save – and that is still PLENTY…  My aunt always had 2 cameras. Usually a one-ten-millimeter – and a small point and shoot for thirty-five millimeter – and that is the width of the negatives – which we would not use for recreating photos – it is easier to take a photo with one’s phone nowadays of those photos and text them to a cousin – but might as well send some – because these days we hardly ever print…. 

And then there are those disposable cameras – we have many from my aunt that are not developed yet from 25 years ago – like 10 or more rolls plus 10 cameras…  Not sure if we will develop them – it is pricey now – and honestly our memories are good too – so nothing in these photos are of trips we have forgotten – just tucked away – like me holding 5 kittens – it is a memory but not an monumental one like a wedding – and even those we keep only some photos… Some photos are also from not our house(s) – but maybe – that is why it is good to ask the makers of the memories before they pass away… And if the photo is not pertaining – like every state fair butter sculture photo from like 20 years – well those are probably OK to toss…

With sorting photos then sending out to family – for them to have photos that remind them of the love, actually it is not costing me anything to send the photos because, well, my aunt had stockpiles of loose stamps too – not the fancy collections but half a strip here – a few there – and so it is easy to give things away from her giving pile. I thought I had a heavy bag of coins recently but it was a bag of rocks, oh well. And besides the stamps, today I came across a christmas card with $30 – wow – well I will bring that back to my aunt…
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The photos are a good reminder of giving of our time into memories – yes keeping family memories alive – and counting blessings of fun times. Remembering this is like a fraction of the time my grandparents and my aunts gave of their time to watch us as rambunctious kids, me, my sibling and my 4 cousins, childhood time when my mom and dad were working, our time spent on the farm. Yes, we went fishing and they put on the worms, we did baking and cooking but they organized it all, we played outside and they watched us like a hawk. We took trips to fun places. They packed the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the cooler. They stocked up the freezer with those ice cream bars “cheerios” and ice cream sandwiches and those orange creamsicles, which I think are disgusting, but my cousins liked. And my Grandma remembered that I hate spaghettios, so I always got raviolis… It is the little things, and I’m so grateful they remembered… even if we were little – the demands were big…

Picture this love now – on a grander scale than grandparents – picture that God knows EACH of us – and knows every thought and every hair on our heads – I don’t even think that we can wrap our heads around God in this greatness – but we can take photo memories of times we know He was helping us – I can see and can picture the LOVE shared – for each of us was born and taken care of by human care (it takes a village) – and we are STILL here… If we are breathing then we should be believing that God Loves us… He does… 

 I praise the Lord in my past and for my past – I praise the Lord for the present of the present – and I praise the Lord of the future which is already in play – He will gives us ALL THE TIME – Picture His Love – Picture THIS Love…

Amen