Travel

Travel #20 Our 2012 Holiday Journey

Celebrate Life Year Round.

So, what did YOU do with the family and friends Christmas cards sent to you over the holidays?  Did you proudly display them in your home then throw them out after the holiday season?  Do you hold onto them and place them in a plastic bag to reference for next year?  These beautiful cards that take the sender so much time to think about, create, design, write, photograph…etc etc…makes you think- right?

We had this discussion recently with a group of girlfriends at a morning gathering.  Some of us save, some of discard and all of us wish we had better ideas.  Then my friend Etelvina spoke up and shared with us a holiday tradition she enjoys with her family over Christmas into New Years.  Each night during the month of December they pick a Christmas card and pray for that family. I loved this idea, simple yet very touching.

So, what do you do with them AFTER the holidays have come and gone?  I just can’t throw them out…at least not right away…they sit in my office in a green xmas basket for a few months- then they end up in the garage then I find them again the following year in the same basket but stored with the St.Patricks storage boxes?  I know some of you carefully package them up, date, and store them…some of you have family cards neatly organized in books so you can follow that family’s journey….you all amaze me!

We have a new idea inspired by Etelvina…We began our journey at the beginning of February.  I gathered all our cards from this past holiday season and placed them in a big red heart basket.

Our goal each night is to have a child pick a card from the basket, introduce their family, share what they enjoy about the family and the card-then say a prayer for that family for a happy 2012….and do this around the dinner table.

It has been pretty amazing to see the kids reaction.  Our oldest daughter picks people she knows and shares her latest memory she has of their time together…in detail.  We light a candle, say a prayer and our dinner conversation then leads to…”When can we see them again”?

Each child is different.  Our younger son chose the card below for several reasons…he thought the little baby was sweet, they wore angry bird shirts and there was a picture of them at Legoland.  Candle lit…prayer said…very simple but good stuff.

If the children enjoy the picture cards, then I encourage them to take the cards to their boards in rooms and hang.  Would I love to see a collage made of all their lil friends they choose…of course.  Will it happen?  Baby steps.  Baby Steps.