I love pictures

I sort of have a thing for pictures. I really like looking at pictures and I love taking pictures. A couple years ago I believed so strongly in my love for taking pictures that I bought a crazy nice digital camera. At the time, it had an unheard of amount of megapixels and was more camera than I would ever know how to use. And sadly, I rarely use it. Today I decided that should change. I was granted the priviledge of watching Will and Allie today and I decided to have my fancy camera handy just in case something happens that is worthy of taking a picture. A quick trip to the park provided just the opportunity. I took about 100 pictures and there are really only about 2 that I think are "good."

This is a picture of Allie on the swing. She loved it. She would just laugh and laugh every time I pushed her. I really like her a lot.


And here is one of Will. Most of the pictures I took of him were of the back of his head, he just moves too fast! I'm not sure what he is thinking about, but it looks serious.


Last night I was looking at my desk and I noticed this picture:

This picture has been sitting on my desk for about three years now and I see it all the time. I guess I am just so used to seeing it that I don't notice it. This is a picture of Tyre, Demontrey, and Kedarion. Three brothers that I met while I was in college. More than anything else I experienced during my four years at Baylor, these kids changed my life. Waco is an interesting town, the wealthiest people literally live across the street from the poorest. There really aren't many "nice" parts of town and you can easily find yourself somewhere you shouldn't be. My freshmen year I ended up at an apartment complex that definitely qualifies for the "somewhere you shouldn't be especially if you're a Baylor student" category.

While scared out of my mind, I was there on purpose. Myself and a couple other naive, nice-looking, Baylor students had descended on this apartment complex in hopes of putting together some sort of Backyard Bible Club kind of thing. We thought that maybe, just maybe there was something we could teach the kids that lived there. In reality, they taught us. They taught us what it's like to be 3, 5, and 7 years old and have to take care of yourself. They taught us what it looks like to live next door to a drug dealer. They taught us what gun shots sounded like. They taught us how to cope with never seeing one parent and never knowing the other. They taught us what a priviledge it is to have a car. They taught us how joyful an experience a Baylor football game should be. They taught us how exciting it is to get to go to McDonalds. They taught us so many things.

Somehow throughout four years of college, my roommate and I became particularly attached to Tyre, Demontrey, and Kedarion. We started bringing them to church with us. You should have seen some of the looks we got! The kids obviously dressed themselves, in clothes that hadn't been washed, maybe ever. I also wish you could have seen the way their faces lit up every time they learned a Bible verse. I remember one Sunday we were driving home from church and Tyre had been working so hard on Luke 1:37, "Nothing is impossible with God." He was sure he was ready to say it and this is what came out (I can still hear his voice), "Nothing is important to God. Lukus 1:37." After a brief explanation that EVERYTHING is important to God and congratulating him for being so close, he tried again. And, he got it.

Just looking at that picture last night I was reminded of the impact they made on me. I was reminded that I want to approach life with their joy, their energy, and with their belief that they could accomplish anything. I was challenged to stand up for injustice and to live out Matthew 25:31-40. That picture reminded me to be Jesus to the people God brings my way. Pictures, they can be powerful.