Photos Bridge A Loss It was several years after my divorce when I became aware of the world of scrapbooking. Genealogy had been a passion of mine for some time, and preserving the history through family photographs was a perfect match. I started to take photos out of the old scrapbook, and it wasn’t long before I had filled two large archival albums.  When I began searching for photos of my children and my 16 years of marriage, I realized that there were years of my life missing.  I had only a few snapshots of my children as babies, but not one of the following years.  I was sure I took more photos than these, I often thought as I searched every box and trunk. My former husband was a good photographer, so he took most of the photos with his camera and had the film developed as slides instead of photographs.  He was always very protective of his slides, and when our marriage ended, he kept them.  The loss of the photo history of my children grieved me, and once again, I felt part of my life was severed, and I asked the Lord to help me.  I knew there was a possibility that I would have to just deal with the loss.  I decided to ask my youngest son, Scott, to talk with his dad about lending me his slides of the family so I could make copies.  I prayed for the Lord to help him see my point of view. Even though I knew the Lord could answer my prayer, I guess I really didn’t have the faith that He would.  One day after visiting his dad, my son returned with several metal trays containing the family slides.  I was overjoyed – and surprised that the Lord answered my prayer so quickly and without hesitation from Scott’s dad. I brought out the Slide Sorter©, and Scott and I began putting the slides up to view.  I wasn’t prepared for the impact the photos would have on me. For the next several hours, I cried and laughed. Seeing the images of the children and us as a family unit brought back emotions I thought I had conquered long ago.  “Mom, what’s the matter?  Why are you crying?  I thought getting these slides was what you wanted?” said Scott. “I’m crying for several reasons, Honey, but most of all because I’m so happy to have memories here where I can see them,” I replied. The experience of remembering the many wonderful times we had as a family and being able to place these photos in an album was a healing process.  I felt the Lord had restored part of my life.  Through the years, I have put together many albums and have given each of my children one.  They now have a mini record of their childhood and our life as a family.  Photo history keeps a visual record of many memories, which we forget over time.  The Lord used a very simple but effective way to help bridge the gaps that divorce brings to a family. He cares, even about the little things of our life, like lost photos. We can’t limit the Lord as to what He will use to bring healing to our hearts.   ©Barbara Lighthizer 2005