The average parent carries around 2,000 photos of their child in their phone camera roll from their child’s first two years alone, according to a 2025 survey by Horizon Organic.
Given the volume of documentation and the pressure to “do it well,” documenting our children’s childhood is a challenge. A 2015 survey by video app company RealNetworks found 50% of moms “feel guilty they don’t spend more time editing and making photo memories of their children.”
Many of us struggle to find a balance between living the everyday moment and capturing it. The intentional decision to document a family moment or not comes with the job of parenting these days.
As a mom who has struggled with this topic, I’ve found at least two points of instruction in God’s Word.
First, as a general rule, God’s Word tells us to soak in the present.
Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
On the flip side, Matthew 6:34 says, “[D]o not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” God calls us and our children to live in the moment.
Second, God’s Word encourages us to record to increase God’s blessings.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “[W]hether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Colossians 3:17 says, “[W]hatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
We see a picture of this principle in the Old Testament. After the Israelites passed through the Jordan River on miraculously, dry land, into the Promised Land, they built a memorial of stones from the river as a visual reminder of God’s works on their behalf and his power and faithfulness. (Joshua 4).
God’s Word has taught me to take photos when they magnify God’s blessings — when they are a means for you or your family to savor his blessings and give fresh thanks for his gifts.
We know everyday photos can increase the blessing of a moment, and they can detract from it. I have certainly experienced both.
In the throes of family fun, I often ask myself, “Will a photo (or another photo) right now magnify the moment, or will it distract us from it?” Sometimes the answer is one, and sometimes it’s the other. It’s almost always immediately obvious.
This simple approach has freed me to newly enjoy our family time. It has freed me from “check the box” photos, fights amongst our littles, pressure to capture perfect shots, the responsibility to store and organize even more pictures, and prolonged internal debates of, “Should I take the photo or not?”
If you struggle with this internal debate, I recommend trying this system. You and I would likely come out with a completely different number of photos, but the beauty is that both of us would be doing the same wonderful thing: giving thanks and glory to our God.
We are in this together.
