Friday the 13th, 2020.

I guess we should've known that date a few weeks ago could have dire consequences. In hindsight, I guess we all should have quarantined on that day in particular. If 2020 has been this crazy, how much more ridiculous would Friday the 13th, 2020 end up being?

Long story short, I had moved my miter saw outside because it was such a nice day. I was cutting slices (cookies) of small aspen logs foraged from a friend's land up in the mountains. Vicki uses these to make Colorado Themed Ornaments for sale on our Etsy Store.

I have literally used that saw tens of thousands of times. But what can I say? It's Friday the 13th, 2020. Again, long story short, I cut the top of my right hand open with the  saw. (I will spare you the photos because I'm sure most of you do not want to see them.) The cut was deep and there were two severed tendons coming out of my hand.

My neighbor, Mike, ran to help and stayed with me in my truck while my oldest son, Dayton, rushed me to the emergency room. Continuing to make a long story short, I had reconstructive surgery and I'm in physical therapy for at least three months. In the meantime, I've lost the use my right hand (kind of stinks when you're right handed) and we are praying that I'll be able to regain full function through therapy.

We immediately shut down the Etsy Store because I'm the one who makes our Rustic Colorado Flags and cuts out the cookies for our Aspen Slice Ornaments. I'm sure we were the only shop closing right before Thanksgiving! We were just coming into the busy time of year! Orders were starting to come in nicely and we were excited about what that would mean for our family.

But while we were contemplating the financial ramifications and our next moves without an Etsy store for the Christmas shopping season, something amazing happened. Our 16 year old son, Landon, who has spent many hours in the shop with me said, "I can make the flags for you."

Now understand that this boy goes to high school as well as takes college classes. He is a 6'-5" center on the varsity basketball team, has a ton of homework, works as a lifeguard, volunteers at our church, and has a girlfriend. But after several conversations and working out of schedules, we reopened our shop in time for the busiest shopping season of the year! We lost some momentum but orders are pouring in now.

If you are one of the fortunate ones buying some of our beautiful, Rustic Colorado Flags for yourself or as Christmas gifts, you have the privilege of having it unselfishly made with love by our son, Landon. He brings every flag to me for quality control and there hasn't been a bad one in the bunch. He even says he doesn't want to be paid – that it's his contribution to the family. Now there's no way we're not going to pay him, but doesn't that just melt your heart? If you're a parent of teenagers, you get it.

Take that, 2020!

We have four children all together. They are all amazing in their own right and we are equally proud of each of them. Today I'm glad to share a story about one of them. I'm grateful to be able to spread some positivity in a year that's not been all that positive. I hope this warms your heart.

Bad things happen. Plenty of bad things have happened this year to so many of us. I want to encourage you to search for the positive and celebrate those moments. Our prayer for you is that this Christmas will be a time for all of us to love and serve others well--especially our families. 

God Bless You.

Paul

P.S. - As you might suspect, we now have a very limited supply of Colorado Themed Aspen Slice Ornaments. These are hot sellers for Christmas and they're not gonna last long. Just sayin'. :)