MEMORY-MAKER, PHOTO-TAKER

By Brett Currie

If you’re like me, you are likely the ‘memory-maker, photo-taker’ in your family. Truthfully, it’s one of my favorite privileges as a mom. I believe it’s important to God as well. All through His Word He urges His people to ‘remember’ what He’s done and to share it with our families (Psalm 78:4). He even prompted ‘those who fear the Lord’ to create a ‘book of remembrance’ as a witness to others (Malachi 3:16). That’s all the encouragement I need!

I love not only making memories with my family, but also capturing those moments in a photo. I’ve been known to take dozens (all right, hundreds) of shots of one occasion. However, I’m learning that there’s something to be said for simplicity. One photo can truly encapsulate all the memories you associate with an event, a time, a feeling.

A new project has really opened my eyes to this. I discovered the 365 project (www.project365.org) online, and was intrigued about the thought of documenting my year with photos. The objective is to take and upload one photo a day. Sometimes it’s difficult winnowing my photos down to ONE, and frankly some days it’s tough to find anything to shoot. But that’s part of the challenge: finding THE memory for each day. Because I also want a tangible reminder, I’m downloading each shot to a shutterfly album for a ‘book of remembrance’.

In the short time I’ve been participating in the 365 project I’ve learned a great deal about taking a good photo. Although the site is replete with tips, inspiration, and encouragement from other photographers, this isn’t the reason I find the project so worthwhile. I love it because it’s a visual testimony of our family. It forces me to evaluate what I want to remember when I look back on this day. Maybe it’s profound, often it’s funny, and sometimes it’s painful. But isn’t that life? And I want to remember every moment.