Photographic memories...

I love photography. Capturing images (memories) on ... ok, I'm about to date myself ... slides, film, and now digital media, has always fascinated me. I was a kid who truly enjoyed when people pulled out the old projectors and had slide shows of their vacation pictures. How cool to have captured tangible evidence of the great big world out there - and your visit to it. My paternal grandparents had a reel-to-reel projector and the slide caddy/carousel - and going to visit them was always an adventure as we watched "home movies" or had slide shows. I even liked the click-click sound as the carousel advanced or the whirr of the projector as the film advanced from one full reel to the empty reel. I always wanted to (and guess I am still "young" enough) to take a film developing class. I am fascinated by the mystery of a darkroom - with its chemicals and fluids and images developing on paper. [With all the advances in digital imagery, are those types of classes still out there?] My friends are tired of me saying, "Let's take a picture - I have my camera." (currently a Canon PowerShot) They are equally tired of me getting upset with them when they go on vacation / out with friends / celebrate a milestone and come back with NO photographic evidence of the event. C'mon people! Memories only last in the human mind for so long. But photographs last forever.

Which isn't always a good thing, I know. I am in the process of trying to scan thousands and thousands (ok, it just seems like thousands) of pictures that I have that were taken in the days before .jpgs and .gifs became part of the English language. Decades of memories: mine, my parents, my brother's. All nicely tucked away in albums, I have come across a treasure trove of memories from my childhood, school days through college, work environments - and I want to get these photos up off the page (remember photo albums with glued pages? removing photos from those albums is delicate work!) and onto CD or some other more durable photo storage media. Some pictures bring back instant memories (did I really wear my hair like THAT and think it was cute?); some taunt me with my forgetfulness (ok, who is THAT? and where did I know him/her from - I didn't know that a quick notation on the back of the photo was a good thing); some produce laughter, some make a tear well up in the eye, some just make me smile. BUT, without the photograph - I wouldn't remember half the stuff these pictures remind me of.

Aren't you glad that God has a photographic memory? That He KNOWS who you are, where you been, where you going? And His memory of you is perfect. Only good memories (that is, if you have confessed the bad stuff and asked for forgiveness along the way), not tainted with the hurts and disappointments and sorrows that sometimes can be dredged up by looking at old photographs. There is a quote that I have received a few times via the Internet: If God had a refrigerator (or a wallet), your picture would be on (or in) it. What a great thought! That I would be worthy to make it into God's wallet - or on his refrigerator. Even as His "favorite child", that makes me smile.

Take those pictures!

Save those memories!

Reflect on the good times shared with family, friends and loved ones!

Be blessed.