the art of a dysfunctional camera and the august break revisited

Last August, I stumbled upon the August Break just when I needed it. Looking back, some of my favorite images on this blog fell into that month of photos. It was just the thing I needed as I was settling into a new home and community, winding down summer, preparing for school, lamenting the heat...
what would a photo of Déjà vu look like...?

This summer, I decided to revisit the August Break. I am settling into another new home and community, preparing for another new school year, feeling like winding down summer although this heat is, I'm sure, here to stay. Forever. And ever.
There is another reason I feel the need for a break (of sorts) and that is, I have no choice.
Unless I want to record the next few years of my family's lives in strangely beautiful abstract images.
Here is Kenna dancing in her fairy dress and soccer shoes while Kate chases her with a toy light saber...

And this is Tristan at the beach, wearing those silly goggles...

Right, it's not really working is it?

There's just no avoiding it. My camera will be packed up and shipped to New York this week for who-knows-how-long and for who-knows-how-much-cash-I-don't-have.

The thing is, I'm ok with it. My camera was in serious need of a professional cleaning long before the sticky-shutter problem began, and in the past few months I've been feeling more behind than ever -and not just when in comes to photos.
I needed to be forced to slow down, rewind even. I needed to remind myself that I don't take pictures for the sake of taking pictures only to drop them all into a grid of a thousand icons in a little yellow folder.

I take these pictures, these images of light, for the sake of reflecting on, savoring and sharing all the blessings this short life on earth holds. Which means before I even bother to pick up a camera, I should living with an undivided heart for the One who blesses.

I love the words of Psalm 36:9, 

For with You is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

In the coming month I'm sure I'll be using my phone a lot to snapshot the everyday memories, and I'm sure I'll have to fight moments of I-miss-my-Nikon grumbling, but I plan on using this time to go back through the past few months of neglected images to see what I can see. I plan on focusing less on me and mine in the light and more on the Giver Of Light. The One who promises that He has a plan and a purpose for me in this place.

And that is what you'll most likely find here if you choose to visit the zinnia patch this August. Photos, yes. And quiet. And hopefully, some things of Him with very little of me.