Allow Capture

Here's another repeat, this time from December 2008.  As women, this is something to keep in mind.

Today, I had the pleasure (strange word perhaps) of attending a funeral. The woman who died was the mother of John who attends our church, Community Christian Church. He asked Brad to officiate at her service. I went along for three reasons: respect for John and his wife Madeline, to be Brad's navigator (we only got turned around once), and to see my husband in minister action.

He offered such comfort to the family--I was sitting behind them, and as he spoke they nodded their heads at times, laughed at times, and wiped their eyes at times. I did too. What Brad provided them, with the gift God has instilled in him, was needed and important. I was proud of him.

After his talk, Brad stood at the casket as people walked up to see their mom, grandma, sister, friend, and neighbor one last time. I hung back, waiting until the room emptied to look at the photos the family had collected.

There were school portraits from back in the 30s. Miss Mavis was an anti-aircraft gunner in her native Britain in WWII when she met her American soldier husband. So there were striking photos of the two of them together. But the photos that pulled at my heart were all the candid snapshots that included generations of her family.

It occurs to me that many of you who read this blog are moms. I feel compelled to share this with you in particular.  Family pictures of others are beloved by us, but pictures including us, pictures of us will be essential to our families one day. 

I don't mean to come of macabre, I'm not only speaking of filling a funeral planning need. There will be other times of reflection when they will need to see us.  Don't hide behind the camera only taking the pictures. And, the next time someone takes out a camera, don't worry about your hair or your make-up, your weight or your outfit. Let the person behind the camera capture you.
 

When I looked at the boards filled with photos, I didn't notice Miss Mavis's hair, make-up, or even her wrinkles. I noticed love. How blessed they are to have all those visual memories to add to those memories stored in their hearts.

Let's allow our families to create plenty of the same.

Good to Great

     I wrote this post in September 2008.  When first published, some people decided I was writing about a family member, and therefore the main point was overlooked. Even though hitting "publish" back then resulted in some still remaining misunderstanding, I'm doing so again (with some minor style edits) because, well, because it is good. 


     Since starting this blog over the summer, I've done quite a bit of web searching and I've looked at many other blogs and social networking sites in effort to get up to speed. I learned I'm only just getting in gear...but it's a start!

     I came across this quote one day, "Good is the enemy of great."  Featured prominently on a thirty-something woman's page, it had no explanation. I was left to infer, after looking more at her page, that she finds herself to be great, her kids to be great, her friends to be great, and perhaps the rest of us, well, not to be.  Hey, if that works for her, I'm certainly not going to call her out on it.

     However, the words stuck in my mind.  They seem to say being good is not enough.  Good should mean up-to-par, but somehow it means sub-par.  Good in any sense might mean settling for something less than it could be. 
     So, today I googled.  I found these words connected to sports, to photography, to numerous products, and I learned they're the catchphrase from a wildly popular book on business by Jim Collins.  Then, of course, I had to look up Jim Collins.      Turns out I could have just looked behind me. Brad has a copy on our office bookshelves, and I believe his son recommended it to him, and Brad has since shared it with others.

     The phrase has also been attributed to Voltaire. So I had to look him up. He was a French Enlightenment writer, philosopher, and defender of civil liberties circa the 1700s. Voltaire was a deist. That's a moralist who believes in a hands-off God or in no God at all.

Voltaire

     Have you ever looked up a word in the dictionary only to find you also then have to look up a words from the definition to even begin to understand the word you initially had to look up? One site credits Voltaire with, "Better is the enemy of good." A variation on the theme of the current quote, or perhaps something altogether different.  
     ANYWAY:  With apologies to the woman, Mr. Collins, and perhaps even the late (and great) Voltaire, I have to share: 

Good is great.

Good means exactly as God intended. 

      Not my idea, but something I learned from church and carry with me.

     After all, the word good is used SEVEN times in the very first chapter of the Bible. (Yes, I looked that up too.)  As in, "And God saw that it was good."

We are all good.

Good is from God.