Archiving beloved family photos

"Preserving The Image"

 

Pop quiz!! If you suddenly realized your house was on fire, what would you most want to save? That's a question most of us don't want to consider, but many would say "My family photos or videos". Many things can be replaced with the insurance settlement: furniture, appliances, dishes, etc. But how do you replace those treasured pictures of your ancestors?

 

We may never have to deal with a fire, but have you looked at those old photos lately? Fire is not the only threat they face. Images fade with time, and exposure to sunlight (even inside most picture frames) only hastens that process. Time is a slower method of loss than fire, but just as certain.

 

For the past four or five years I've been working (off and on) on archiving our beloved family photos. Our children were raised during the age of film and we have a good many albums of our precious little ones. Using a scanner and a computer, I've slowly gone through the albums and digitized each snapshot. I've then made copies of those digital images so if my copies are destroyed someone else will have them. Digital images are more likely to survive the ravages of time.

 

I can't begin to estimate the number of hours I've spent archiving photos from my own and my mother's collection. The assurance I have, though, of my grandchildren being able to enjoy these family keepsakes makes it all worthwhile.

 

A passage in the Bible that has been powerful in my life is 2 Corinthians 3:18: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." To do that passage justice would require more room than I devote for these devotionals. Let me quickly summarize, however, what Paul means.

 

The "mirror" of which Paul speaks refers to the word of God. James makes that clear in James 1:23,24. The only way I can truly "see" myself as God sees me is to come to the Bible and hear what He has said. It's also the only reliable source of information about Jesus, the Savior of mankind. I must come to this Book often to really see Jesus.

 

The more I present myself before this Book, according to Paul, the more I'll be "transformed into the same image". What "image" does Paul mean? The image of the glory of the Lord. God's word can create change in my life. It can transform me from the weak and vile person that I may be into one who is more like Jesus Christ!

 

Does an old book really have such power to transform? If it's God's word, yes! "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). The Bible is much more than words-on-a-page. It lives!

 

Attaining the image of Christ in my life should be my number one goal. And preserving that image in the face of life's temptations and struggles is equally vital. When His image fills my life, I know God is pleased with me.

 

Timothy D. Hall