Well, it was a tough call but the panel of judges has selected four finalists from the photos submitted in August. And here they are:

Sister comforting sister, who didn’t feel so good that day… does it get any sweeter than that?

Just “hanging out” on a perch amongst the rocks…

There are actually two examples of “hanging out” in the photo above. The little boy is hanging out beside the blow-up pool in his yard, and the butterfly is hanging out on the boy!

It was too hot to hang out in the sun, so this smart baby chose to hang out and snooze in a sling next to mama!

Congrats to the four local moms who sent in the photos you see here! You’re one step closer to the big grand prize, which is a free photo session with photographer Melinda Worthington of MJW Photography. (Click here to see examples of her work.) The winner will also get to choose a favorite shot from the photo session and will receive a huge wall print of that shot.

If you missed the articles published that announced photo finalists from the first two months of summer, click on the links below to check them out.

• June finalists: Kids who are “on the go”

• July finalists: Kids who are “keepin’ it cool.”

At the end of this month, we’ll announce who the lucky grand prize winner is and display the winning snapshot. In the meantime, feel free to keep sending us cute pictures of your kids because we love to show them off in the photo gallery and in the Polaroid frame you see at the top of the page. Send snapshots to gwen@nwaMotherlode.com.

If you’re interested in improving your photography skills, click over to the MJW Photography website and read about the classes she offers to moms with DLSR cameras who want to learn what all the buttons actually do! Shannon and I both took the class, and it is making a huge difference in the snapshots we’re taking!

16 Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’   ~ Jeremiah 6:16 (NKJV)

By Bro. John L. Cash, “Country Preacher Dad�

If you’ve been listening to the news lately, you’ve probably heard that last week was the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. My family and I will never forget those days because our lives were impacted by the storm. A recent report said that over 1,800 people lost their lives because of the storm and that over 300,000 were forced to relocate. You’ve seen the pictures, and the verdict is clear—Katrina was a tragedy that brought untold devastation and great suffering to the lives of so many. (Below is a photo of the twisted trees littering our backyard after the storm.)

We were fortunate enough to live far enough inland not to have our homes completely destroyed by the remnants of the storm. We didn’t suffer like those who took a direct hit, but we were greatly inconvenienced. For a time we were stranded at our rural home, unable to travel to town because of fallen trees that blocked all the roads and highways. When the roads were cleared, we didn’t venture far away because we were unable to buy gasoline. We had to save what we had in our gas tanks in case of an emergency. For two weeks we lived in our house without running water, and for 3 weeks we did not have electricity—in the breeze less high heat and humidity of a Mississippi summer.

People around here often speak about the weeks following Hurricane Katrina. And surprisingly enough, most people have quite a few happy memories of the days following the disaster. No one could go anywhere, so we were forced to spend time with our family and friends. There was no electricity or cell phone service, so people weren’t distracted by television, Facebook, or texting. Instead, we took time to visit.

In our family, our sons set up a tent in the backyard where they slept each night. They did this because it was cooler than sleeping inside the house. Our meals were picnics together, often eating sandwiches or MRE’s, like combat soldiers eat, courtesy of the National Guard (who kept us supplied in ice, drinking water, and food). When we felt exceptionally ambitious in the stifling heat, we fired up the grill and had a barbecue. Sometimes we’d read during the day until the daylight faded and we could no longer see. Each night we listened to our little radio that was powered by a crank on the back of the unit. When it ran out of “juiceâ€� after about a half-hour, somebody had to turn the crank for 2 minutes to recharge it. We played Scrabble by lantern light each night as we listened to music. A good time was had by all.

The majority of people braved the heat to go to church each Sunday, even though there was no air conditioning or amplification. People helped their neighbors. Most of the fallen trees were not cleared by professional road crews but by regular joes with chainsaws. When people got extra ice, water, or food, they shared it with neighbors—because you can’t be rich alone. People slept soundly at night, even though the nights were muggy and there was no breeze. They slept soundly because they had worked hard during the day serving others.

It always surprises me when Susan or the boys reminisce about the good times we had in the days following the hurricane—days when we were bathing with a bucket of cold water. But I know what they’re longing for. It’s certainly not the tragedy or the inconvenience. What we’re longing for is a time when everybody slows down to be together—time uninterrupted and undistracted by less important things.

Dear mamas, as we begin a new week, let’s ask the Lord to help us to find ways that we can simplify and slow down. Let’s ask God to open our eyes to the blessings amidst our difficulties—blessings that can draw us closer to Him and our families.

Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.� He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has spent the last 25 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. (On week days he works at a public school.) He and his lovely wife, Susan, and his sons, Spencer (age 19) and Seth (age 16) live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church (where the Preacher’s wife made her sons saw off three tree limbs every day after Katrina—so they would sleep at night. See below.) He would love to hear from you in an email sent to extramailbox@juno.com.

By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3

Yesterday 6-year-old Jack and 3-year-old Kate found me standing at the bathroom mirror hurriedly putting on my make-up. I was rushing to get ready and get out the door, which is inevitably the time little kids will ask their most pressing questions.

Jack: “Why are you putting on your make-up, Mom?�

Me: “Because I have to go have my picture made for a work project.�

Jack: “But why do you need make-up to do that?�

Me: “Because I want to look nice for the picture.�

Kate: “What would happen if you don’t put on your make-up?�

Me: “What do you mean, honey?�

Kate: “Would you not be pretty and shiny if you don’t put on your make-up?�

Me: (Pausing for a long moment because I suddenly realized how important the next answer really was. I stopped and looked her in the eye.) “I would still be pretty and shiny if I didn’t put on my make-up. It’s not make-up that makes a person pretty.�

Kate: “Then why do you put on your make-up?�

Me: (Finding it hard to explain.) “Well…because I just like it.�

Kate: “Oh. (Long pause.) Can I have an orange popsicle now?�

That’s the great thing about 3-year-olds. A change of subject is always right around the corner because they think of something like orange popsicles and quickly move on to a new topic. I, on the other hand, could not stop thinking about that conversation.

Since our little exchange, I’ve been asking myself questions I don’t have all the answers for. Do I really put on make-up because I like it? Do I believe I can be “pretty and shiny� without it? Why do men get to be handsome without mascara yet most women feel naked when we leave the house without it?

More importantly, how do I teach my daughter that femininity and being a woman is about so much more than the face we put on in the morning?

Those few moments answering questions while primping in front of the mirror have made me realize just how much the “little things� impact a kid’s view of the world. I, like so many other women I know, am sometimes guilty of dismissing compliments or glancing in a mirror and saying things like “Ugh. I look awful today.� Or “Could my hair look any worse right now?� Of course, I’d always thought it was okay to do this because it was only myself I was cutting down. But now I’m seeing that it’s much bigger than that. And I don’t want to teach my daughter or my sons that beauty and self-worth are found at the bottom of a cosmetic bag. And that a bad hair day equates to ugly failure.

Ironically, I’m getting a better handle on self-image thanks to aging. Although my looks might not be getting better with time, my ability to accept my own looks does improve each year. And I’m learning to be more thankful for a healthy body that works because there are lots of people praying to have the very thing so many of us take for granted.

There was a time I wouldn’t have even gone to the grocery store without first doing my hair and make-up. But these days I can do it without much angst – not because I don’t care about myself but because I now care less about what other people might think. That’s not to say that other people’s opinions don’t matter because they often do. It just means that I’m old enough to realize that people are far too busy with their own lives to spend much brain energy wondering why I didn’t have make-up on that day.

After a lot of thought, I’ve decided I told our little girl the truth yesterday: I really do like make-up. When I have plenty of time, I even enjoy putting it on, and I like the way I feel when I’m done. But it’s also important to like my plain old face, too. And I have to be willing to show the kids that I can sometimes go without make-up – that “beautiful� is an attitude of kindness and confidence, not something a person can get with a few layers of Cover Girl. If I can get that message through to them, I think they’ll grow up to be beautiful where it counts most.

Gwen Rockwood is a mom to three great kids, wife to one cool guy, a newspaper columnist and co-owner of nwaMotherlode.com. To read previously published installments of The Rockwood Files, click here.