About 15 years ago, I went on a tour of historical homes. As expected, the houses were typically embellished with simple charm and elegance. I was in the process of buying and furnishing my first home so I was hoping to get some great ideas. 15 years later, I honestly can’t remember tying any specific idea into my decorating plan. What I do remember is a house that had pictures of their children’s feet EVERYWHERE! As a very young 20-something, I remember thinking that was the most ridiculous thing anyone could ever do…and I wouldn’t be caught dead doing that.

I guess I’ve come along way since that day. Feet still aren’t my favorite body part to photograph and display, but I now would give anything to have a child to proudly display photos of in my home.

Over the past several years in children’s ministry, I have become obsessed with handprint and fingerprints craft projects. The first time I decided to go with a fingerprint craft in my preschool class, I got so many raised eyebrows from parents and co-teachers. Opening up finger paints for 20 kids ranging in age from 3-5 had gone bad in the past for them, but I just knew that I could manage it. I prayed about the reality of what could go wrong and decided that I’d forge on with my plan. I went in with a plan to clearly discuss behavior expectations and then pull out the paints….Of course, everything went fine.

The memory verse I was working with that night was:

The grass withers, the flowers fade,
but the word of our God remains forever.” – Isaiah 40:8

The minute I saw how the kids fingerprints turned flower petals brought their craft to life, my heart melted and I was obsessed. The thing about fingerprints/handprints is that 1. They are unique to each individual child and no-one will ever be able to replicate it. 2. Its like a time stamp: children’s hands grow each day so neither will that child ever be able to exactly replicate that fingerprint. I get goose-bumps thinking about how special that becomes.

Over the years, I’ve done many hand-print crafts with the church kids. Pictured below is one of the latest. While I still don’t know if my home will ever be decorated with feet pics, I can almost guarantee that when my forever child comes into my life, I will display each and every fingerprint and handprint craft and will treasure them with my whole heart.