"person of the day" prayer bowl

Have you noticed that more and more people are sending photo cards for Christmas? I love this.

I don't like to throw them away, because it feels like I'm throwing out my friends and family. :) But then they just sit in a shoebox and I end up throwing them away later, anyway. (This is exactly what happens with leftovers in my refrigerator, too!)

Last year I did something I liked, so I'm going to keep on doing it. :) After Christmas, I put the photo cards in a bowl, and then prayed for the person (or family) on top. After I prayed for them, I moved the card to the bottom of the bowl, and then the next day, I prayed for whoever was next on top. I did this (almost) every day. I prayed for my "bowl people" :) several times during the year. I guess if you were crazy famous popular and received more than 365 Christmas photo cards this wouldn't work, because you wouldn't get to everyone, but it worked for me.

If a bowl is too messy for you, you could stick them into a notebook or prayer journal. Or if you were really industrious, you could scrapbook them into a beautiful album. I am sticking with the bowl, and keeping it simple, because otherwise I get so hung up on the form that I forget the function.

The next Christmas, replace these photo cards with the new ones you receive. Some people will be the same, and some people will be different. :)

I don't put all the Christmas cards in the bowl . . . just the photo ones. This is an easy way for me to create a list to pray for.  I also have handwritten lists in my prayer journal of other people and groups to pray for, divided into days of the week (my family, closest friends, pastoral staff at church, suziebeezieland, neighbors, government officials, unreached people groups, etc.) . . . but I really enjoy my seemingly random, but I think God-ordained, "person of the day" prayer bowl. :)