I realize that probably sounds like a strange title for my first post, however, I decided to start a blog to help record all of those precious memories. Memories that, although I feel as though they are etched in the innermost part of my heart to stay forever, I'm sure will fade with time. Not to mention, I want my girls (and baby-to-be) to be able to see life through the eyes (and camera lens) of their mother.
My grandfather had a deep desire for his grandchildren and great grandchildren to have a small understanding of his life's journey. Sometimes (yes, I am guilty as well) my family would smile and giggle as he worked to record many different stories. Now that my grandfather is no longer with us, I have a new understanding of how incredibly important his recordings are to me. Aside from my bible, these books are the most precious and important possession I own. His first book, The Story Pole, chronicles his life...as a young boy helping to make ends meet, a high-school track and football star, a young man who fought to right the wrongs of WWII, and as a young husband and father building a business as a contractor. He explained to us grandchildren that a story pole was simply a stick, used by contractors as a sort of benchmark as they began laying the foundations, building the walls, etc. But he also saw the story pole in a different light:
"I found through the years, that life is a bit like the story pole. We all need a benchmark in our life, a point of beginning. Sometimes to keep us level and plumb, akin to the story pole, to measure our lives by.
Sometimes, I would wander far afield, but I would always have that benchmark, that point of beginning to go back to."
And so, every year, at our annual back-to-school slumber party, all of us grandchildren would get measured on an actual story pole. We'd wait anxiously to see who had grown the most, and if Mamaw and Papa has decreased in size (Mamaw always blamed her daily coffee). I didn't realize it then, but it served as a reminder...of where we had been the past year. The journey we had all made. Of course, as kids we simply saw the physical measurement. But as I reflect on those memories as an adult it is a reminder to pay attention to the spiritual journey as well. I pray that as I record these moments of life to share with my children and family, that God will be honored. That His sweet grace and multiple blessings would be seen in every picture and every story.
