A few years ago, I was at a homeschool co-op Christmas party. It was a beautiful time of laughter and friends. We had a table covered with a variety of tasty foods and dispensers full of hot cocoa and coffee close by to chase away the chilly evening. We were having our fill of laughter too. Watching one another stuff a pair of nylons full of balloons and placing it atop our heads like a pair of deer antlers.

During a lull of the festivities, two friends pulled out Mason jars decorated with a piece of brown twine and the date 2015 hanging from the neck of the jar. Affixed to the middle of the jar was a label that said Blessings. One of the two friends began to explain that there was a jar for each of us. A gift to use in our homes to remind us of the blessings we have received during the year, maybe a handwritten note of a blessing, a ticket stub, or a receipt. It was such a simple gift but one that has blessed my home for three years.

We still have our Blessing Jar sitting on our small bookshelf. My son and daughter know exactly what it is and what it means. They often remind me to put the paper that represent a given or received blessing into the jar. So much so, that my son asked me to put the gas receipt into our Blessing Jar… because “filling the car with gas is a blessing”.

Every year it is filled with ticket stubs, receipts, small notes…etc. Each New Year’s Eve, I empty its contents and pour them into a small Ziploc bag labeled with the passing year’s date. Last year it was so full that I considered buying a bigger jar but I haven’t found the heart to get rid of the one that was given to us. It is special.

Bless someone with a small blessing…you never know how big it will become in their life or how full it will make their Blessing Jar.