The Blessings Jar

So after New Years last year we started a "Blessings Jar" ... not something I made up, but heard and loved the idea. The idea was to write down what you are thankful for, throw it in the jar, and sit down together as a family and read through them on New Years Eve ...

So we did ... kinda!

Some contributed more, some less ... and there was a lot of scurrying to make up for lost time on that final day, looking back through pictures, and even our shared family calendar, to refresh memories and throw some things in there at the last minute!

However, as clumsy and imperfect as it was, we did it ... and it was truly a blessing. However, two things became pretty clear to me during this exercise ...

• God, even in our trials, has been ridiculously generous to all of us. This time of "catch up" as we were looking back through pictures and calendars thinking "Oh, I forgot about that too!" was pretty eye opening.
• I really wish I would have kept up more on a daily/weekly basis, as the best ones we read were the little every day moments we would have totally forgot (not the bigger ones that pictures and calendars helped to refresh our memories).

One of my simple favorites? Written by my youngest during a time of deep struggle ... simply read: "Today, I had a good day."

It not only refreshed our memory, warmed my heart, but also reminded her of those battles that God saw her through ... so glad that wasn't forgotten. Yet so many others were ... so many memories left unrecorded and unable to be reflected upon ...

This is not just my family ... this is not just yours ... it's all of us ... 

Moses, refreshing the next generation, reminded them of this ...

'"Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children— ' Deuteronomy 4:9

What a perfect reminder ... we can so easily forget even the things we have seen with our very eyes forever ... so ... stay diligent in remembering by repeating them ... recording them ... reciting them ... to your children, and their children ...

What a perfect application of the "Blessings Jar" for us in 2020 ...

Care to join us? Set a weekly (or even daily) reminders on your phone ... have the jar and paper and pens easily accessible and out in the open ... and fill that thing!! Then be prepared for a beautiful gift on New Years!

His,
~Matt