Deleting Pictures

 "Anyone who moves forward, even a little, is like Jesus walking on the water." Antonio Machado

Every few weeks google yells at me that I'm nearing my storage limit. Like a mother upset about a messed up room.

Like the average child, I delete a few things, straighten up a bit let's say and then declare it enough.

Hoping that one half gb I cleared is going to be the elusive enough.

It never lasts long. You see, I keep getting the emails. Downloading the files. Taking the pictures.

It's the pictures. Let's face it.

With some ruthless deleting this week, I've managed to free 2GB of space.

Yep, that's it. 2 GB.

For those of you whose phones don't yell at you regularly - Google allows 15 GB of storage. My THREE email accounts and files associated with that take up 1.1 GB. Remember what the rest of the storage is?

I've been taking a harsh walk down memory lane over the last few days. Opening every picture. Saving, organizing into folders, deleting as a I go.

Occasionally you hit a day where I obviously took WAY too many pictures. The snow dusting - somehow I took 30 pictures in one hour outside.

Those are the easy deletes right? Pick one of each kid or the dog and delete the rest.

It's the mundane day to day pictures that I can't let go of.

The Xman asleep on my couch.

The Princess on a blanket in the front yard reading a book.

Peanut dressed up on some random Tuesday.

Moments that were a regular part of my life. That no longer are.

Nothing special moments.

But were they?

I've missed a lot of "big" moments over the years. I've missed girl scout trips where the Princess forged new friendships. I've missed baseball games where the Xman pitched an astounding game. I've missed moments where SD could have used someone to stand in the back and just be there.

I've missed some BIG stuff.

Sometimes because my health necessitated it. Sometimes because balancing the needs of three kids in different seasons necessitated it.

But the mundane?

The small?

That's where I shine.

I stash cards in your bag when you travel. I show up with words when they are needed.

I make you dinner when you aren't well and college is wearing you out.

I play board games while dinner cooks and play your favorite songs.

Because I believe that we make a life in the small.

And that society over rates the big.

I believe the small IS the big.

So I keep a lot of these every day pictures.

To remind me that making the memories in the big isn't what makes a life.

A life is made in the memories of the consistent, constant small.

Mama Warriors, as we all prepare to enter what I call the "Season of Chaos" try to remember that the small is the big.

The holiday picture books read on the couch with the hot cocoa in the special mug. That's the big.

The Christmas movie watched in pjs with popcorn under fuzzy blankets. That's the big.

The picture taken at some big expensive outing/event may look nice when shared - but at what expense?

For what you don't see in any of my google photos is the woman behind the camera.

Smiling while capturing the everyday blessing it is to be their mom.