How do you consolidate a person’s life into a mere 49 pictures?

That’s the question I was asking myself a year ago after my mother passed from this life into eternity.

My dad, brother, and I had flipped through an assortment of old photo albums in an effort to find the perfect pictures that told the story of my mother’s 75-years’ worth of life that could be used in a video montage for her funeral.

We spent hours looking at images of my mom as a young child, a graduate, a bride, a new mom, a teacher, a quilter, and a grandmother to name just a few.

“There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 HCSB)

That verse had never been as meaningful to me until I sat there surrounded by hundreds of pictures that testified to this Biblical truth.

“…a time to give birth and a time to die…a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing…a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.” (vs. 2-8)

Each picture revealed a “time to” moment in her life.  Each smile, event, or activity had been meaningful to her.  There was a story attached to every photograph.  It was painfully difficult trying to whittle down hundreds of images to just a few that best portrayed her life.

In the end, we wound up with 49 pictures that we felt best summed up my mom. But in reality, she was so much more than those images could aptly convey.

Aren’t we all?  How can any of us feasibly condense our lives or anyone else’s into a few photographic prints?

Obviously, we can’t.  From birth to death, the breadth and depth of our lives are walked out in the accumulated seconds and minutes that make up the time we have been gifted on this earth. 

Ephesians 5:16 exhorts us to, “…make the most of our time…”

Pictures can only capture moments.  They’re not comprehensive of one’s life.  Only God holds that ability – the ability to see our lives from beginning to end and He encourages us to make the most of it.

Robin Williams’ character John Keating in the classic film Dead Poet’s Society spoke to the very heart of this when he said,  “Carpe diem! Seize the day…make your lives extraordinary!”

How will you make your life extraordinary today?

Until next time, Grace and Glory!