Today is the Feast of Annunciation.  I always try to do some type of flower related craft with Hilary on this day.  Who doesn’t enjoy giving flowers to their mother?  It just always seems like the perfect way to show love to the Mother of God on her Feast Day.

I decided that this year we would decorate the paper copies of the Kursk-Root Icon that we received when we visited it a few weeks ago.  The icon is not a standard size, so I didn’t have a frame that I could use as is.  I wanted to use what I already had, so I chose a wooden frame I love.  I didn’t want to do anything permanent, so I lightly tacked the icon onto the frame with hot glue, covering the hole.  Since it’s wood, the glue will just pop right off when I want to do something different with the icon.  I glued ribbon around the edges of the icon, creating the illusion that it was sitting in the frame.  Then, I added some silk and paper flowers, as well as some beads to finish it off.

For Hilary’s project, I attached the icon to the center of a piece of thick craft foam in the same temporary way that I did mine.  Then, I turned her loose with flowers and beads.

On this day, we remember a girl named Mary, who when faced with the unbelievable news that she would have a son, set a pure example for us of what it means to follow Christ.  It’s not about understanding what God asks us to do.  It’s not about agreeing with it, wanting to do it, or even seeing how we’re physically capable of accomplishing it.  It’s just listening to God.  Listening and doing what He asks.  God asks us things every day.  Sometimes they’re big and dramatic.  Sometimes they’re small and seemingly menial.  But they’re all there for a reason, if we’ll see it.  Each day and each time that we say “yes” to God, we see Him just a little more clearly.

As the snow softly falls on this Feast Day, I pray that the Mother of God, full of grace, will continue to show me how to listen and how to say “yes”.  Every day.  Every moment.