This year one of my goals is having a more organized house. Just like each special ornament on the Advent tree has a pocket to be packed into for storage, I long for each thing in my home to have an assigned place, to hopefully help me keep a more orderly home.
Since the girls were very little, I've packed away their special ornaments in their own boxes. Now my son has his own box, too. Each year we write on the same piece of lined scrapbook paper, adding the ornaments they were given that year. It is fun to remember special friends and memories as we decorate the tree. As we pack ornaments into boxes, the kids have a sort of scavenger hunt finding each one on their list. Once they find them all we place that paper back inside the box before sealing it.
The Christmas tablecloth has now been washed, folded, and stored. After checking to make sure they were indeed empty, the stockings were bagged up with care. Even the last fragile Nativity pieces are nestled safely in their bubble wrap.
Our decorations are in their designated storage spaces. All evidence of Christmas has once again been packed up.
Or has it?
That little baby in the manger isn't just a decoration. Jesus Christ is alive. He is in my heart, and He is on His throne at the right hand of God. The physical reminders of the season are indeed packed up, but I hope my life is a reminder of Jesus' love through my words and actions all year long.
Love this post! Amen! Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your process. I LOVE the idea of keeping a list of the kids' ornaments- what a great keepsake! I am passing that idea on to my kids. n Hope to see you back next week!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michele. It is a great keepsake, and they will each have a box to take with them to their own homes one day. I appreciate your weekly challenges and am hopeful I can keep up with them.
DeleteI like your idea of a list and repacking the ornaments each year. I write on the ornament with a fine sharpie marker who it was from, whose it is, and the year, and after a few years on our tree, it gets rotated out to their boxes. We have a fairly small tree currently, and with 4 kids, keeping all their ornaments on the tree every year isn't do-able. But if we ever are blessed with a house that accommodates a large tree again, I may have to do the list thing, as I really love seeing all those ornaments.
ReplyDeleteA few of ours have the kids names written on the bottom, and it does make it easier for me when they do. We had a large tree this year, but ornaments could only be on the outside instead of all through the tree (sharp branches) so many of ours stayed in boxes this year, too.
Delete