One of my most cherished Christmas Traditions is creating and mailing out our family’s Christmas card. We’ve done it every year of our marriage and kept them all to see how our family (and our design preferences) have changed over the years. But keeping a historic record of our family each Christmas isn’t the only reason we create Christmas cards, we also desire to fill the mailboxes of our family & friends with hope and love this season (and tidings of great joy!)
Four years ago, in the holiday season of 2020 (you remember the year), we wanted to put more in our Christmas Card than these pretty faces. We wanted to speak truth and share the unbelievable hope we have in Christ – even in the midst of the mess that year. So in addition to making a Christmas Card, we made a verse card to include in each envelope. We did Romans 15:13 that year and still, to this day, I remember the impact this verse had on us and our family.
Every year since then, we have chosen to include a verse that meant something to us that year and have included it on a separate card so that people can continue to keep them up in their homes after the Christmas season ends!
This year our Christmas Card & our Verse Card is covered with Psalm 103. Bruce’s Grandma Bea passed away this summer and he read Psalm 103 at her funeral. After that experience and mediating on the Psalm, Bruce decided to memorize the whole thing (and I’ve been picking it up by his rehearsing!) We’ve had several surprises and hurdles hit us this year. Things we couldn’t ever imagine walking through with our friends and family and in our home. But this Psalm has brought us unexpected comfort and peace, as well as hope, direction, and words to pray.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:2-5
We ordered our cards from Artifact Uprising this year (we’ve done them in the past several times + for a bunch of other photo projects.) I love them because the quality is unmatched and we can also easily add on the verse cards by using their 3.5×3.5 Square Photo Set. I tried our photos in a couple designs, but the “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” was the clear winner for the Mayberry clan. I went ahead and uploaded our addresses so most of our cards came preaddressed for me (PRAISE!) I had wrote a couple addresses that came after, but writing 15 by hand is much better than 100! And also added these envelope stickers, because I’m always nervous envelopes will open in the mail! HAHA.
When they arrived, they were just as I imagined – probably my favorite cards yet! The way the card, envelope, verse, stickers, and stamps all came together are so festively perfect! It’s another beautiful card to add to our archive!