Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Tis the Season | Images that Re-Capture our Real Focus
It’s the Christmas season again…
With it comes scads of trees lathered with tinsel, ooey-gooey sweets that stick to our over-forty hips, children that glisten from snow-covered jaunts outside, and sparkled-up moms and dads dashing about festively from party to party. Christmas is a bottle of moments, captured, memorialized, celebrated, bokeh’d and vignetted and canvas wrapped onto walls all over the world. Black Friday lines and fights in the parking lot over a lone parking space. Ahhh Christmas…
On Black Friday I saw an image posted by @mikerusch on Twitter that has radically changed my experience of Christmas this year. It is entitled:
After breaking my heart, this one photograph redefined Christmas for me.
We are not exchanging presents with some of my family… my husband and I have decided to forego the pandemonium of shopping and just spend time together instead of purchase anything… I am turning my photographs into gifts for some of my friends instead of actually purchasing something…
Instead of opening boxes,I’m choosing to unwrap friendships like this…
I am going to cherish memories of these precious children….
And reflect on serving with these amazing friends in Africa…
and to love more on this won’t-take-a-serious-picture husband of mine…
Because 2000 years ago in a manger, the best gift given to us was that of a baby who came to earth to give us thirty-three years of His love, His time, and His heart… so we could always remember the real meaning of Christ-mass… the celebration of Christ.
These are the memorialized images that I want to hold onto this Christmas. What about you?
No. 1 — December 6th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
AMEN and amen sista! LOVE – LOVE – LOVE this post!
Merry CHRISTmas to you and your family as you revel in the true meaning of this season.
No. 2 — December 6th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
That Black Friday photograph is truly heartbreaking. Thank you for this reminder.
No. 3 — December 6th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Erin, I agree – I have been so profoundly impacted by it. It has changed my whole Christmas season.
No. 4 — December 6th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Thanks Patti – you too! :)
No. 5 — December 6th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
[...] on over to High Calling Focus to read the rest of this [...]
No. 6 — December 6th, 2011 at 7:05 pm
This is a reminder worth hearing and seeing again and again. Thanks for this, Jenny.
No. 7 — December 6th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Moving images. Very thought-provoking. The Black Friday one is unbelievable. Thank you for it.
No. 8 — December 6th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Girl, amazing post. Really, REALLY compelling.
No. 9 — December 6th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Thanks friend!
No. 10 — December 6th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Marilyn, I know – it totally changed everything for me this Christmas… I might have just talked our other side of the family into foregoing the material side of Christmas too :)
No. 11 — December 6th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Thanks Charity!
No. 12 — December 6th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
AMEN and AMEN! Beautiful post Jenny! I'm doing a 25 Days of Christmas series on my Reflections devo blog. Oh how a baby changed everything in an instant! God among us! Thank You Jesus!
No. 13 — December 7th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
OOO Jill I'm going to stop by and read it – I love stuff like that :) thanks for sharing!
No. 14 — December 7th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Jenny, those photos will pop into my head, I'm sure, when I'm in line at the store buying gifts.
No. 15 — December 7th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Beautiful post Jenny. Thank you very much for the reminder.
No. 16 — December 7th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
I'd love to smash the bottle of Christmas materialism. It's a habit I could easily break, I think. I don't know how to break my kids/grandkids, though. They're hooked–and it's a lot my fault.
No. 17 — December 8th, 2011 at 3:16 am
Jenny you blessed my husband and I tonight. I read this aloud while we close out the evening. I love the photos of your years worth of memories. I've been looking through all my photos over the year. So many memories. The intangibles. I'm so thankful to have found this place, your place, to linger. So thankful. God Bless.