A picture is worth a thousand words...

A picture is worth a thousand words. I've heard that phrase my whole life.

A moment captured with a lens and a flash. Smiles that never fade. Backgrounds that are static. Life that doesn't move...but is captured.

I find myself examining a picture today. Looking for a hint of what would follow after the snap of the photo. Wondering if I somehow missed a cue, ignored a hint, closed my eyes because I didn't want the truth. Pondering the count of 3 that produced the smile. It seemed so perfect, so precious, so right.

Odd to me that we seldom take pictures of tough, crisis times. Maybe it's because a kodak print can't hold the detail etched in our minds from the tragic. Maybe because we work so hard to get the negative images replaced in our mind. There are days I can't seem to forget. In perfect detail, my mind recreates the sound, the smell, the scene. And I am there once again. Those pictures are worth a thousand words, too. Eventually. The grief that follows and the long days that drag on, contain glimpses of growth and painful progress. But, we forget those images. We ignore the slow, painful steps that lead us to those moments we want to capture.

Today, if the image that you hold is in your mind or tucked in the pages of an album, it is worth a thousand words. Words rich with meaning and depth. Moments that have made you who you are today. Even if some of those are negatives, know that they are being fully developed by the One who promised to bring beauty from our brokenness.