Are You Behind On Photo Albums, Too?

Lord remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered – how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; as best, each of us is but a breath. Psalm 39:4-5

Are you behind on photo albums?

Seriously. Am I alone on this? Am I the only one who is dreadfully far behind on chronicling our family’s life in pictures?

Personally, I am still working on March 2012. And Luke still doesn’t have a baby book.

He is six.

Photo albums cause me guilt. And stress. And wasn’t scrapbooking challenging enough before the silly smart phone came along. Back in the olden days, we had a limit of 24 pictures to take on a roll. Remember when? When we were more mindful of our photo taking. Reining in our trigger happy finger. Film gave us boundaries but the smart phone gives us gigabytes. Making for an overwhelmed woman stuck in her 2012 Shutterfly album.

So this year I will make the Yule Tide gay by completing 2012-2014 for my family to open on Christmas morning. (Brent, you weren’t suppose to read that. So… Surprise. And Merry Christmas.)

But as I have been filtering through the 2,347 pictures on my hard drive, I have been tearfully reminded how quickly life is happening. And there ain’t nuthin’ anyone can do about it. Except really live it. And embrace the reality of its fleeting nature.

Lord remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered – how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; as best, each of us is but a breath. Psalm 39:4-5

The Lord has gifted us with time. We all have an allotment of seconds, seasons, months, minutes and years. And between King David in Psalm 39 and Shutterfly I am reminded that my entire life is no longer than the width of my hand.

So now that I’ve depressed you, let me encourage you. Our days are numbered for a reason. If we had an endless amount of days, we would have little reason to bask in the richness of relationships. Or little reason to savor time with our grandmothers and great aunts or little boys in bouncy seats. Without the gift of numbered days we would fill our lives with more media and money and make much of materialism that doesn’t matter. Nothing goes with us.

Numbered days press us to draw growth lines on walls and celebrate kindergarten graduations. Because deep down we know, the days are short.

I mean…

Christmas 2012

…Thomas the Tank Engine doesn’t grace our TV screen anymore. And there was a day when I knew every train. Every number. Every color. Red and green and brown and blue. The entire useful crew. I knew them all.

But before I knew it, without asking me, it all just stopped. No more Thomas.

An entire season of motherhood. Gone.

And that causes me great “confusion and delay.”

Remind me, O Lord, how fleeting my life is.

Because remembering will press me, in the healthiest way, to set down my phone and snuggle my six-year-old with a cup of cocoa. My fleeting days will press me to schedule a babysitter and have a date night with my husband. My fleeting days will press me to play a rematch of checkers with my 93-year-old Ethel.

Remind us, O Lord, that this season is fleeting.

This morning. This day. This Thanksgiving. This Christmas. This holiday season is our only shot at 2014. Let us not miss it.

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of time. Let us steward our minutes mindfully today. Keep up keenly aware of the finite nature of our days so we will love harder and sit longer. And above all, let us sit longer with You, Lord – in prayer and in your Word – that we would live this day, not for ourselves, but for Your Glory. In Jesus Name, Amen.

And let me apologize right now for totally dropping the ball on John With Georgia last week. I was neck-deep in final prep for a Friday night speaking engagement. So… Here is our reading from last week and the rest of our book of John! A fellow reader, Elizabeth, has offered to help me post daily on our Facebook page, as well, so there will be NO day missed! Praise the Lord for Elizabeth! Enjoy John as we conclude this life-changing Gospel story.