Photos: Memories and Beauty Captured

I remember when we returned from Malaysia the first time I went overseas, many moons ago, the shock everyone expressed on the amount of photos we took.  We took 24 spools of 36 capacity films worth of photos.  Every one was asking why we took so many photos.  The answer:  Because there were so much to see and remember.  I wanted to remember every detail of all the amazing places I saw.
Backing up Bratling #1's trip photos got me thinking.  He made it home safe and sound with over 32GB (roughly 9300) photos.  It makes the 800+ photos of my first big trip seem like a drop in the bucket.  The digital age has improved the world for anyone who loves to take photos.

As a family we love taking photos.  Photos to remember things by, photos of things that catches our eyes.  Artistic photos and happy snappies.   The kids are allowed to use cameras as soon as they can figure out which button to push.  Our lives are documented in every possible way. 

I love my camera, and still remember how grown up I felt when my parents gave me my first camera for Christmas when I were 12 years old.  Luckily my dad included two spools of film for me, because by the end of the day I had used them both.  I couldn't wait to get them developed and see if I had any good photos.  Understandably a lot were out of focus and either over or under exposed. :D  It took a long time to get my mojo.  The person that got me to look at taking photos that weren't just happy snappies was my husband.  He opened up a world to me that was beyond family photos of holidays.

I started to look differently at everyday things.  I no longer just try and take a photo of a pretty flower, but tried to get the background to enhance the beauty of the flower.  Birds  have become a challenge, a really big one, as I don't have the right equipment, but I still love taking photos of them.  I got clever and set up feeders, which make them come to me.   Butterflies and other bugs get a whole new meaning to me when I take up my camera.  To me photography has become an artform.

I'm sure most of us love the idea of doing some form of art.  Not all of us can paint or draw or even make something with our hands that is useful and pretty.  But in today's world with the age of digital photography most of us can become budding photographers.  All you need is to look beyond the ordinary of an object to see the extraordinary in it.

So where is the blessing in this rambling? I think my blessing is found in the way that looking at things differently has made me appreciate them more.  And when I can appreciate these natural beauties more, I can appreciate their Creator even more.  And living a life of worship to my God, because of what He had done, is one of the biggest blessings I can think off.   I hope you can see it too.

Keep looking for the beauty around you, take as many photos as you want, but always remember Who gave it to you.

Have a wonderful week.
From Little Old Me.

The Truth of this Mom's take on Bratling #1's Trip of a Life Time.

This week has been a hard one for me as a mother and wife.  As most of you know, Big Brat and Bratling #1 are on a trip of a life time, touring from Paris to Rome via Pompei.  To tell the truth, I've had so many mixed emotions about this trip.  There are times that I really have to rationalize with myself to remind me why I agreed upon sending him on this adventure.  Even though he is with his father, I worry.  Is he eating enough, is he sleeping well, how is he coping emotionally, is he warm enough, is he safe enough?

Well, on Sunday I got an sms from the hubby to tell me that Bratling's phone got pickpocketed on the the train to Pompei.  Knowing how badly my boy would take this, my heart was breaking with the ache to be there for him and to cope with not being able to be there.  I felt terrible for my husband as I know how helpless he would feel in the onslaught of emotions my son would go through. 

It has also been a hard week as this is the 3 week (and luckily the last week) of their trip and I'm missing my child something awful.  I'm used to being without the husband, and though I miss him, I can cope.  My son on the other hand... I worry about him nonstop.  Is this what empty nest syndrome feels like?

The on Wednesday, hubby informs me that he almost lost our son, as they got separated during a tour and for almost an hour could not find each other.  Deep down I know they both would have been fine, but I also know how much it must have freaked them out and had them worrying about the other person.  I know the emotional rollercoaster this incident must have set off in their hearts and minds and again I'm not there to mother them.

I think the hardest lesson for me to have learned this week was that my boy will be fine, even if I'm not there.  God is there to comfort him and is protecting him.  And in the reassurance that he is in God's hands and that he has God's protection on him, I find my blessing this week.  Yes, I know that things will go wrong and that it can go horribly wrong, but I also know that God always have a bigger plan in sight and things will always work out to glorify Him.  I have learned that even in suffering there is blessing, or rather I should say, especially in suffering there is blessing if you belong to God.

I've learned this week to once again to just trust in the LORD and rejoice in His blessings upon my life and the lives of my children.

May God's blessing become clear to you in your life.
From Little Old Me.