"All I care about are the pictures. Just please, see if you can find any pictures."The older gentleman who stood before my friend and I was totally distraught, just a step away from being in tears. He just kept asking us to try to find his pictures. We were standing behind what was left of his little red house. The roof had been torn completely off, the front bedroom wall was missing, and the chimney was resting a good way from where it was supposed to be - on the top of an old car. We climbed up into the house and began the tedious work of sorting through the debris, trying to find any pictures that may have survived the storm. "Inside," we found that all the closets were barricaded shut, but empty. And there were picture frames hung on the walls... with not a single picture left in them. After about an hour, we'd been through the small house, and managed to salvage about 10 small photos, a larger portrait, and a small package of Wal-Mart one-hour-prints. But that was it.
As I sifted through insulation and dry wall and kitchen utensils and toys, it was all I could do to hold back my own tears. I don't think anyone could have done that and been unaffected. But it was doubly difficult as a photographer given the task of salvaging those captured memories. I'd spot a scrap of paper and my heart would take off, only for it to plummet when I turned it over to find a mess of smeared ink - what was once a photograph of friends or loved ones. I kept thinking about all the photographs that we've taken over the years that now hang in the homes of so many of our clients.
Throughout the day, there was one verse that kept coming to mind. And I know it is one that has been shared here on the blog numerous times before. But I'll share it again. It's Matthew 6:21 - "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Nothing is certain for tomorrow. Treasure your family and friends.
I had the blessing to be part of this work over my Spring Break a few months ago. But the clean-up from the tornadoes in Kentucky is far from over - even now. Supplies are, of course, greatly appreciated, but the real need is hands and feet to help clean up - and beyond that, the willingness to listen to the stories and share the tears. [Check out the Christian Appalachian Project @ www.christianapp.org for specific ways and places to help.]
jill <><
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