A few more of my favorite things...

So, I recently shared about "bows" being one of my favorite things and you can read about it here. But yesterday, when a friend complimented my snowflake pin, she said, "You should blog about that" after she heard the story.

Here I am with SNOWFLAKES...another one of my favorite things.

The story goes that in 1992 when I met my husband, Jason, we shared our first kiss at Concord College. We can remember the exact location in the science building parking lot and what happened next...it started snowing! This is no Hallmark movie friends, it really happened!

That year, we made ornaments for each other and one was a snowflake I painted. This is the ornament that started it ALL!
The idea caught on. We started exchanging snowflake ornaments every year. Now, almost 20 years later, we have a wonderful marriage, a tree full of snowflake ornaments, and a son to share them with.

There aren't really any rules, but it goes something like this...each of us picks out the other a snowflake ornament in secret, wraps it up as a Christmas gift, and we usually open them on Christmas Eve. Then, after Christmas, each snowflake is delicately wrapped in tissue paper, put into a zip lock bag, with an index card filled-out sharing who it was to, who it was from, a short description of the snowflakes (so we can can tell them apart), and any reason it was chosen for the other. Then, each year as we trim the tree, we get out our snowflakes and read the cards back to each other.

Here are a few of my favorite ones...

TO: April
FROM: Jason
Golden snowflake with a picture of our ultrasound of Jeremiah
"Celebrating our first Christmas as parents with our GIFT, Jeremiah!"
TO: Jason
FROM: April
Red and white felt snowflake
"Jason's new job as an elementary school principal and "Daddy" has made him soft around the edges."
TO: Jason
FROM: April
Snowflake Bell
"Honoring Jason's mom's passing and a wonderful life...When do "angels" really get their wings?"

TO: April
FROM: Jason
Snowflake Jingle Bells
"Having our son in preschool has given us a lot to make a joyful noise about!"


...just a few of my favorite things. I could go on and on. Somewhere in the mix, Jason started picking up snowflake pins that I wear through the holidays. Each is sentimental (although not wrapped in tissue and kept in a zip lock bag with an index card - LOL!) Thanks for encouraging me to share Amanda!

Now, I have a question for all of you. I want to hear from you. As we celebrate God's gift to the entire world, His Son Jesus, who hung on a tree, displaying God's love to forgive us of our sin, and His power to rise again from death that we might have life abundantly...what has that life looked like this past year? If Jason's snowflake ornaments, remind me of our life celebrated together and of his love for me, what would God's ornament to you look like from this past year?

A heart as He reminded you of His Love? A dove symbolic of His Peace? A smiley face as you experienced His Joy? A lamp to remind you to be is His Light?

Think about it and let me know what you come up with. What God hung on the tree for us is ETERNAL, no seasonal and He is ever faithful to remind us. Celebrate Him!