When I began on my faith journey a couple years ago, I was searching for ways to bring the Lord to my baby as part of our everyday life. I wanted and CRAVED little reminders placed around the house that would help me stay focused and grounded on the Lord and direct me back to Him when life got busy. I’ve never stopped feeling a burning desire to dig deeper, learn more, and grow closer to the Lord. So, if you could benefit from a couple Godly reminders yourself, here are a few ideas geared towards kiddos.
I LOVE browsing Etsy to see what kind of fun things are out there by more creative people than myself.
We all like to get ideas and Pinterest and Etsy are just one click away when I’m feeling like a little inspiration. I found these “blessing rings” from a seller on Etsy but you could probably put the time and effort into creating them yourself vs. purchasing. There are a handful of already-created ribbon “themes” as well as standard scripture cards to choose from.
I was pregnant with Mac and totally in love with dinosaurs when I ordered my first blessing ring… so, naturally, I was drawn to the boyish oh-so-cute dinosaur option. I also picked two different notecards that could be added to the ring throughout the years. Whenever I find an inspiring quote or part of scripture that calls to me, I pull out one of these cards and record by hand the loving message I want Mac to see someday.
I believe the shop suggests putting the ring on a doorknob (which I love the idea of) but I want these meaningful keepsakes kept up high and safely out of the reach of toddler hands for now. So my solution: in both of my kiddos’ rooms, there’s a decorative wooden cross I had picked out and hung on the wall – just add a nail to the center and you get a truly symbolic blessing ring holder! Pretty proud of myself for thinking of this one … hopefully there are no Catholic rules against literally putting nails into a cross.
Cambrie was baptized earlier this year (feels like just yesterday).
I was able to display her blessing ring with personalized notes from me as well as all the “congrats on baby” cards that I hole-punched and added to the ring. After their baptisms, I hole-punched the cards received and added those, too. These babies will not only know how much the Lord loves them, they’ll also know how much their family loves them 😊.
And that is the main reason why I love this Blessing Ring idea so much! It’s a simple, creative way to show our babies love and inspiration of the Lord. It takes just a few minutes to add a greeting card or scripture/prayer notecard and each one I get to add fills up my heart that much more.
My last thought on these: IF I never get the chance to truly influence my babies and tell them how very much they are loved, this ring will do the job one day. Let each greeting card be a reminder of family members they can trust & rely on; every handwritten note and scripture speaks from the very love I hold in my heart for them.
I’ve been able to make a beautiful new family tradition with these blessing rings and hope to influence others to take time, slow down and do the same. Just another small way we can make God big in our lives.
Onto part two – easy Bible passage footprints!!
You may have seen this idea before on Pinterest. I came across it when I was pregnant with Mac – and even stuffed the Bible I was using at the time into my hospital bag along with hand paint to be sure I got the “baby-est” footprint of my sweet boy.
Pro tip here: cheap hand paint does NOT transfer super well to thin Bible pages. I recommend using ink pads!
So after trying the paint thing at the hospital (which didn’t work), on our first night home, Paul and I were able to get a nice footprint in my Bible using an old green ink pad.
Since Mac’s print was gathered, I have switched over to the NABRE Catholic Journaling Bible (I learned the NKJ version I purchased initially to start reading was not a technically accepted version for Catholics). So after Cambrie was born, I opened my Catholic Bible up to Psalm 139 and printed both Cam’s and Mac’s current footprint. I also tried to make a heart out of my thumbprint and Paul’s but that didn’t work out as well as I hoped. Better luck next time? I still use this NABRE Bible and plan to use it for the rest of my life so …
I’m all about personalizing the pages of God’s word with the important milestones in my family’s life!
I also displayed my Bible with the kiddos’ footprints at Cam’s baptism – décor idea, mama. What else have you heard of documenting in a Bible? What have you done to personalize your Bible?
