Just recently, my laptop became so
full of pictures, that I had absolutely no memory left! I decided that
something needed to be done to move them onto a storage device and
protect them from possible corruption. Imagine my surprise when I
found that just my 2010 folder was almost 30 GB. No wonder my
computer had no memory--MY memories were stealing it all!
What an amazing gift we have been given to be able
to capture our moments of greatest joy and keep them forever: pictures of
my childhood and school years, of my newborn children and of them
growing up, birthday parties and holiday gatherings, wedding pictures and
family trips. These pictures can easily bring tears of joy with the flood
of memories, and tears of sadness for the loved ones I can only see
in pictures now.
It is perhaps my love for pictures
that has profoundly impacted my love for art. A couple of weeks ago, I went to
South Carolina on a trip to visit the publishing company that produces much of
our elementary program's curriculum. While I was there, our group was
taken to the Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery which contains the
2nd largest collection of religious art in the world (second only to the
Vatican)! I have never considered myself an "art buff", but I found
myself shocked by the emotion that each painting stirred in me--particularly
the paintings of Jesus with Mary and Jesus at His crucifixion. These
artists may not have had digital cameras and photographs for reference,
but each had a crystal clear picture in his head
about the scene he was depicting. While we may not
know exactly what Jesus looked like, we have artwork such as these that cause
us to imagine, reflect on, and remember Christ's birth, life, and
ultimately His sacrifice. These "pictures" were worth way more than a
thousand words. 
Genesis 1:1 tells us "In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth." What an amazing picture God had in His
head for creation and how grateful I am that we can enjoy his masterpiece.
I'm struck that I can find such joy and amazement in something that took 6 days
to speak into being, 4 years to create like the Sistine Chapel, 10 minutes to
create like my 5 year old's latest drawing, or .5 seconds to create like my
latest snapshot of my baby girl. Ultimately, each is to be enjoyed and
treasured for the memories they give us and the praise we can give our God for
such a simple blessing.
What a great picture of God's love
for us that He would give us such a powerful gift. That picture is truly worth
more than a thousand words of praise!
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