“Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.” Philippians 1:3 NIV

 By this time we’ve thrown out tucked away all our Christmas greeting cards. Beyond pulling them out for kids winter art projects or snip off the personal greeting and use the front covers for gift tags next year, what else can we do with them? Decoupage is outdated and besides, Grandma only has so much space on her living room wall. 

The past few years has proven another dilemma. What do you do with all those photo cards? I mean, there’s only so much shelf space for photo albums and you can’t really recycle them. I don’t think cousin Suzie would appreciate seeing little Tommy’s year-old face on next year’s Christmas gift, even if he does have the cutest smile. Besides, she spent her hard-earned money on those photo cards!

Not knowing what to do, I let mine pile up in a drawer for years.  Then one day, while standing in my friend’s kitchen, I noticed all the photos on her refrigerator door. I recognized some old friends, caught up on their lives and marveled at their beautiful families. It got me thinking, wouldn’t it be nice to arrange my friends and family photo cards on my own refrigerator door to remind me of them throughout the year?

It’s been four years since this post-Christmas tradition began. Now, when family and friends gather in my kitchen, I watch their attention drawn towards those smiling faces on my own refrigerator door. We might stop a minute and share a fun story or just wonder how a particular person might be doing that day. 

But, God’s made it so much more. He’s turned that decorated door into my Refrigerator Prayer Door. In private kitchen moments when I gaze at all those photos, God reminds me of that passage in Philippians 1:3, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.” And I do. 

Just think of  how many visits we make to the refrigerator in a day and multiply that by 365 days. That’s an active Refrigerator Prayer Door.

What do you do with all your greeting cards and holiday photo cards?