I’ve figured it out. I know why you do it. Why you keep all of those thousands of extra photos on your phone… I know why you keep the blurry ones. I know why you don’t just delete the ones with the crazy lighting or not so ideal angles. I know why you have multiples of almost the exact same picture. It’s probably for the same reason this is my favorite photo of my kids and me.
See, that little one in the middle? That’s my Kadee grabbing my face and making certain she never loses a second of my attention. My oldest, Kolton, is there behind me – and absolutely always has my back. Their baby brother, Jaxton, is plotting his escape to break free, and I’m reaching to grab him, because I just know he’s about to run.
It’s my favorite, because it is us… the real us (Okay… with clothes we rarely wear, and makeup I hardly ever put on, in a setting we infrequently visit). But the hearts portrayed here… they tell our true story.
And that’s why I think we keep all of our pictures. Sure, we might have half a dozen similar shots, and we might never upload the rest to social media. We might just take photos until our phones say they are out of space, and then upload the photos to our computer just so we can refill our phones again… But those photos that wouldn’t mean anything to anyone but us… They mean just as much (if not more) as the ones we share, because they remind us of the rest of the story.
We keep all of the pictures, because we know it was never about portraying a perfect moment. It was always about preserving the priceless memory.
And because we know that just because somethings aren’t perfect doesn’t mean we should throw them away (relationships, friendships, marriages, dreams, goals, should I go on?)
Maybe our full camera rolls tell more about us than we thought. Maybe they are a sign of a heart that embraces imperfection, that refuses to forget the details…
(Or maybe that we should ease up on all of the selfies… but I think that’s a blog for a different day.)
Snap away, friends! Your life (and your story) are worth remembering.
Hi! I’m Becky, and I am the author of the book Hope Unfolding: Grace-Filled Truth for the Momma’s Heart! Find out more about it by clicking the image! I’m also the founder of an online community called Scissortail SILK where 100,00 of us meet on social media to encounter Jesus and encourage one another. Won’t you Join us?
Photo by the very talented RM Photography!
