There’s never a good time to lose a loved one, however losing someone around the holiday season is particularly tender. A dear friend lost her dad this past week. As I’ve been thinking about her and praying for her to feel the love of Jesus, I’ve also been pondering on a meaningful sympathy gift.

When designing sympathy gifts, I put a lot of time and thought into the arrangement. I try to add things I know they like, in addition to things that bring comfort, calm and peace.

I know this friend loves orchids, and nativity sets. I found this simple little nativity set and think it works well under the glass cloche. I wanted this arrangement to have a natural feel to it, so the flowers are not too fussy. The creamy white accents remind me of Heaven. Because I need to transport this for delivery, I used “Clear Museum Putty” under each nativity piece to hold it in place. I order this from Amazon, and it works great for many different applications.

The angel needed to be raised a little taller to be seen behind the manger where I wanted to place her. I often use empty wooden thread spools as tiny risers for this purpose. You can purchase them by the bag in different sizes at Hobby Lobby. I used the Museum Putty to attach the angel to the spool, and then another piece of Museum Putty to secure the spool to the wooden base of the glass cloche.

This arrangement is unique in that it is placed on a turntable I found at “World Market.” I try in every way to add some kind of LIGHT into the sympathy arrangements I create and these “Luminara” battery operated candles are my favorite go to.

They are real wax, with a moving flame that looks realistic. You can turn them on with a remote control, or set them to come on at the same time each day to run for 4-6 hours before turning off on their own. I like to set the ones in our home to turn on as the sun is going down. I love how the house begins to LIGHT up as the candles turn on all by themselves.

These candles also run for many hours before you need to change the batteries, another bonus! Hobby Lobby carries a small selection of Luminara brand battery operated real wax candles as well as the remote controls that work with them. Pottery Barn has a much bigger selection, with much bigger price tags as well. Amazon also carries them too; however, there are some imitations that are not the same quality at all. If you order them on Amazon be sure to read the reviews. I wanted the candles to be different heights, and so I bought two different sizes of gold candlesticks from “Jolley’s Corner” in Salt Lake City. Most shops are having their Christmas open houses this coming weekend and was grateful to find these treasures yesterday.

The gold footed glass flower vase came from Jolley’s as well. I particularly LOVE the gold stars embedded in the glass. I knew I had some small gold mercury glass star ornaments here at home and decided they were the perfect finishing touch to the arrangement. Not only do they match the stars on the vase, but they also tie in nicely to the nativity set.

Death is never easy, but here are a couple of my favorite quotes that have bring me peace during these difficult times in life. “As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven.” ~ Russell M. Nelson “There are some who bring a light so great to the world, that even after they are gone the light remains.” ~ Leigh Standley

We are all on our own journey back to our Heavenly Home. I believe this earthly graduation culminates with a wonderful reunion in Heaven with our loved ones who have passed on before us. It’s those of us who are left behind that struggle with the loss. Some get to return home during the Christmas holiday season, what a blessing for them to celebrate as an angel in Heaven! I also believe Heaven is closer than we think. We can pray for Heavenly Father to send our guardian angels to watch over us. I believe these guardian angels are friends and family sent from Heaven, to minister to us during trying and difficult times.

My wish for you this week is to hug your loved ones a little tighter and a lot longer. If you don’t live close enough for an actual hug, send a hug over Zoom, through your cell phone, or in a text. We never know when we will be called home. Hugs are free, and a simple act we can give each day to show our friends and family members how much they mean to us. Hugs bring LIGHT into our lives! 😊 The 4-8-12 rule is a quote from family therapist, Virginia Satir, suggesting that we need four hugs a day for survival, eight for maintenance, and twelve for growth. This isn’t a scientific formula, but a guideline highlighting that physical touch is crucial for emotional and physical well-being, with longer hugs, around 20 seconds, being particularly beneficial for releasing oxytocin and other stress reducing hormones.

Have a wonderful week, and go hug someone! Love Ya, Les 😊

Life

Going Home For Christmas