30 days of thankful...day 14 & 15

#14...I am thankful for technology that allows me to be in contact instantly with friends around the world.  Skyping, email, Facebook...it is really amazing when I stop to think about it.  Our world really has gotten small...and I love it.  I love chatting with friends in Ethiopia and Uganda, watching live pictures stream in of friends and their new little ones in Korea, and reading updates of missionary friends in South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa...as well as just knowing "what's up" with so many dear ones that I might have lost touch with if it wasn't for this gift of communication God has given us!

#15...I am thankful for my camera.  Seeing life through a lens...focusing in on what is important and cropping out what is not.  Capturing that quick smile...or that far away look.  Gathering evidence to present when they are older and swear they NEVER did that.  My camera is the safety net of my memory...so when my memory fails the photos will serve to remind me of these sweet days...of chocolate on faces and impromptu hugs.  Of shared treats and dogs used as pillows.  Of the pile of kids on the couch, content to watch cartoons and rest limbs akimbo on each other in sweet contentment.  Of productive, and not-so-productive, school days...heads bent over paper, pencils askew, crayons scribbling all waxy and not quite in the lines.  Yes, my camera helps me to remember...and to be intentional about making sure the moments count.