This small conversation sparked a thought in me...life is made up of snapshots. My mind instantly wandered back to the day of film cameras. The days when you would send your film to a developer and wait with anticipation to see how many pictures turned out and how good the "good" pictures would be. Inevitably, you would get the stellar shots of memorable moments accompanied by the few that were totally invaluable. After enjoying the amazing shots, it would be time to evaluate the reason for the bad pictures. Be it the flash cube was used up or the taker's finger was in the way, there was value in learning how to avoid this the next time around.
The snapshots of life are much the same, some are amazing and some are not so amazing. There are the amazing snapshots that come when days are good. The day that you are engaged to the love of your life. The day you are able to make your child's dream come true. The day that you land your first job that pays more than gas and insurance payments to mom and dad. The day that you see an old friend coming off of the airplane for a visit. You know these well. These are the days that you find yourself saying that familiar saying,"If only this day could last forever!" On the other hand, there are the snapshots in life that you never want to revisit. The day you hear the diagnosis of a terminal illness. The day you lose a loved one to a tragic accident. The day that you lose your business and walk into the attorney's office to file for bankruptcy. Maybe is is simply the day that nothing you touch seems to work out.
Just like pictures, we need to learn to enjoy the great snapshots of life while adjusting to the lessons learned from the undesirable snapshots. The great moments are to be cherished and enjoyed but not worshipped and set up to be the litmus test for all of the days of life. If you think back before the day of digital cameras, we took snapshots of what we deemed to be the best and most important moments of life. We would look back at them with fondness while continuing to look to another day in the future where pictures would be taken. What a joy it is when we learn to love the best snapshots of life while not being disappointed that everyday is not a "best snapshot" kind of day! The undesirable snapshot days are a bit harder to deal with. In these moments, it is valuable to learn what the Lord is teaching in the moment and move forward in faith not expecting all days to be so tough. God has given us the great ability to gain wisdom and perspective through the trials of life. Scripture reminds me that it is through these trials that the Lord is refining in me character that leads to perseverance and hope. Let me just say, it is good to learn from the bad snapshots in a timely manner. We have an entire three week vacation worth of pictures with Dad's finger blocking a portion of the lens that we can never get back. So it is in life. If you don't grow and learn from your trials, you will spend much of life losing opportunities for joy that come from the discipline of growing in wisdom and grace.
The saying often heard in our house is this...you are never as good as your best performance and never as bad as your worst. So it goes with these snapshots of life. Our life is never as full and celebratory as the best snapshot but nor is it as bad as the worst snapshot. Thinking on this has encouraged me to take time today to thank the Lord for those amazing snapshots of His marvelous gifts as well as for the trials that have made me the person that I am today. I encourage you to do the same!
Blessings, Diane
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