Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Keep me, protect me, share me...

Sometimes, I'll hear a song that draws such an accurate picture of my being that I'll think, "Man. I wish I had written that!"

Sometimes, as those who know we well can attest, I cry at commercials. But I've never been so touched by a commercial that I thought, "Man. I wish I had made that!"

Until today.

I am passionate about photos. I take a lot of them, and I badger non-photo takers into taking them, too. I spend my own money to develop photos that I take of other people, just so I can know that they have them. My own family is photo-rich. Easily, the most valuable things we own, both sentimentally and monetarily, are strap-hinged together on the bookshelves in my scrapbooking office.

But just taking and keeping the photos isn't enough. I'm passionate about recording the stories behind the photos. I was once a consultant for Creative Memories, teaching people how to preserve their photos, and selling the products with which they'd do it. I hated the selling part, but I loved the teaching. 4 years after I quit selling, I'm still teaching on a regular basis. I want every person I know to record their memories. EVERY person. I try to make that happen in a variety of ways: for the young women in the inner city of Fort Worth, I coordinate a scrapbooking ministry, where scrapbook donatations arrive from around the world (even from Japan, Australia and Canada) and dedicated scrapbookers are on hand to help out. For my missionary friends in Uganda, who have no place to buy the supplies (and who can't afford to anyway -missionaries don't have a lot of frivoulous-spending money), I do it for them. For people who DO have a lot of money but don't have time or desire, I hire out. I don't care what part of the social/economic spectrum you fall in: I want you to have photos, and I want you to link written memories to them. Sometimes I wonder that I'm more passionate about THIS mission than I am the Christian one.

Keep me, protect me, share me, and I will live forever.. Kodak says it way better than I can. Follow the link. Take the tour. Watch the video. (make sure the sound is up.)

And KEEP TAKING PICTURES!!

4 comments:

Bobbie said...

I have seen this commercial, and i did have tears the first time I saw it. The one where the children are walking in like a museum and the older man is directing them, teaching them, as far as the christian side, I picture Jesus whispering this in my ear. Oh, still waiting for your email...... :}

Nancy D. said...

I must say....I admire your spunk. Your courage. And lookee...you blog did not spontaneouly combust putting that company name out there in public. Go figure. ;)

Yea. I might have to hire Stacy. I'm so behind.....

Anonymous said...

I loved looking at this link. I too take photos for people that *I* think they NEED to have. We DO need to have the same passion to share the good news about Jesus. Wise observation!

Martha in CA said...

Thanks for making me cry, Stacy!!

And just so you know, McDonald's commercials when they show either a senior or maybe an employee with Down Syndrom cleaning the dining area makes me cry. Oprah makes me cry. Onions make me cry.