Another holiday season with busyness and excitement has come and gone.  It is time to pack away the fancy things until next year.

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is a wreath that I made years ago from a coat hanger, clothes pins, and beads.  I use it to display all the Christmas cards that we receive.  Every year I have to hardest time unclipping all the cards and an even harder time throwing the cards away.  So they often end up scattered around on counters, in the way, and eventually tossed in the trash with a heavy heart.

But this year, as I sorted through the cards, smiling at the fun family photos, cherishing the unique penmanship of the signatures, I realized that these cards were the only contact that I have with many of these people throughout the year.  And, I realized that I want to do more.

So this year I put the Christmas cards in a basket and found a photo frame.  Each week or two I am going to change the photo frame to a different Christmas card and make some sort of contact with that family: a phone call, text, facebook message, or email.  Most importantly, I will pray for the family that sent that card throughout the week.

My prayers for this year will model Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians: “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (vs. 16-21 NIV)

If you want to get on the prayer list, it’s not too late to send me a Christmas card!  Happy New Year!  Choose Joy!

 

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