One interesting thing has been how much and how often Jesus has spoken to me through scrapbooking. I have had times when I have chosen a specific picture for a page because there was a "hidden" meaning behind it. And there have been times when I have "seen" a scrapbook page in a prophetic word. I have never felt particularly gifted in the arts. I am not a "crafty" person. But there is something about creating these pages that speaks to me.
Pictures have always been extremely important to me. I remember when I was very young, going through boxes of pictures. I would quiz my mom over and over to tell me about the people and the events. As child number 5 in the family there were fewer pictures of me than my siblings. But I had a dad that also loved taking pictures. When I had my own kids I was determined to put all the pictures in albums - no boxes. Unfortunately the 18 albums of pictures were "magnetic" pages that damage the pictures. So now, my pictures have been taken out of albums and returned to boxes - acid free photo storage. But boxes none the less. Isn't it funny how sometimes the things we never want, actually end up being what we need?
One of my favorite pictures is a very small, very old photo. It was taken in the summer of 1916. It is a black and white picture of a family sitting on the grass next to a house. Here it is...........
I will never forget when I found this picture - in the bottom of a box, actually stuck under one of the bottom flaps. My mom was moving into a smaller apartment and we were helping her move. It was in 2009 - and my mom was 94 years old. I watched her face when I brought her this picture. I will never forgot the emotion I saw there. This is a picture of my mom as a 1 year old. She is sitting in front of her dad. Her mom (in the black dress) is looking at her. The women with the other baby is my mom's Aunt Lydia and the other baby is her cousin Jeanette. (My mom and Jeanette were really best friends as well as cousins). The boy in the back, is Jeanette's brother Delwin. The girls are my mothers sisters, Beatrice, Phyllis, and Eunice. My mom did not remember this picture at all. As a matter of fact, she said she had never even seen it. You see, this is the ONLY picture anyone has of my mother with her mother. My grandmother, Nora Toensing, died in April of 1917 - about 9 months after this picture and before my mom turned 2. My mom had never seen herself with her mom. I couldn't imagine that. We actually only have a few pictures of my grandmother. But this was a found picture that brought something amazing to my mom. And to me. We noticed that Nora is clearly looking at my mom - not the camera. Her eyes are on her baby. And my Grandpa seems so proud. All my mom kept saying was "I can't wait to get to heaven to meet my mom". For the next 2 years a restored enlargement of that photo sat where my mom looked at it everyday.
I am so thankful for pictures. And I am thankful for scrapbooking and photo storage and digital photos and scanned pictures that will preserve these for generations. How wonderful that my grandchildren can hold on to these amazing bits of our heritage. And I am so grateful that Yahweh planned for my mom to have and enjoy this picture at the end of her life. It was not an accident that this picture was found. It was part of God's amazing plan for me and my mom. So I will go back into my scrapbook room and carry on. Because there is importance and value to this hobby.
Thank you Yahweh for connecting us to our generations. Your plan for us includes our family - past present and future. Thank you for speaking to me through photos and for providing scrapbooking as a way to preserve pictures for my generations. Thank you for this picture and for my wonderful mother. What a blessing to know that she is celebrating with YOU right now. Amen.
No. Her death was reported as TB, but the family does not think that was her cause of death either. More about her story will show up on my blog at a later date!
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