Blessings A to Z

I FINALLY finsihed up my list of blessings called "Alphabet Soup" that I've been writing over on my other Blog..."Life By Design" It was an interesting experiment. Some were serious, some were silly. But all in all, I enjoyed naming the things I am grateful for according to each letter of the alphabet.

Here is the key to all those posts:

Aa Bb >
CcDd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mn Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv W w Xx Yy Z

Glass Alphabet Soup

It's intriguing the way different aspects of our lives can come togther in a confluence of a new idea. I was cruising some blogs yesterday after having spent time in the glass studio. One of the ones I read was "Seeds from my Garden" by Morning Glory... she is the one who does the Alphabet Soup, challenging her readers to make a different list of things they are grateful for each week based on a letter of the alphabet. (I've done this a few times but not consistently... I may choose to play catch up later with the letters I missed.)

Anyway, I had been thinking about glasswork all morning. Then in the evening I was thinking about alphabet soup. Those two things tumbled together in my mind to come up with this: I want to make decorative stained glass boxes that will hold 26 3 x 5 index cards that will each have a letter written on them. I will give these little boxes as gifts with the instructions that the receiver write blessings they are grateful for on each index card based on that letter. Then they will have their very own personalized box of blessings to set somewhere. Any time they have a sucky day they can pull out the pretty box and remind themselves of how much good they truly do have in their lives.

What I like about this is that by basing the choice of blessings to identify on letters of the alphabet it forces me to look beyond the normal list I can rattle off of things I KNOW I am grateful for. While it is all well and good to appreciate my family and my home, my freedom and my faith it is only through doing alphabet soup that I give much thought to being grateful for appropriate medical care (X-rays) or the beauty of the universe (Zenith) or the stillness of a new morning (quiet) or a glass of cold lemonade on a hot summer day (quench).

I'm definitely going to have my own specially made box just for this purpose. I'll start working on it right away. I have some awesome opaque blue glass and bits of mirror that I will weave together with some rose and some lavender and some green. I will make one of the sides in a pattern like a patchwork quilt. I like the idea of having a tangible place to count my blessings as a reminder of all the positives. "When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed..."

I've decided I will move my alphabet soup posts over to my other blog - Life by Design. They feel more appropriate for that venue. So for this final posting on the topic here I will just make a list of all the letters of the alphabet, and then as each posting is created over there I will come back and make a hot link to the appropriate letter. That way I can get to them easily from THIS spot, but I'll have them all gathered where I think they belong.

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mn Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv W w Xx Yy Zz

Alphabet Soup - LETTER F

Blessings I am thankful for that begin with the letter F....

1. Family - they make me laugh, they make me cry, they break my heart and sometimes break the bank. But my relationships to them define me more than any other single aspect of my life.

2. Friends - as I explained to my daughter-in-law today in our long heart to heart, even the very BEST marriage or parent or sibling relationship cannot possibly meet all your needs. It is good to be devoted to family, but it is essential to nurture strong friendships. I've got some great ones who have sheltered me through some emotional storms, celebrated with me when things went right, and just plain UNDERSTOOD me in a way my family never could. I treasure my pals - both those I've gathered in the "real" world and those I've come to love in cyberspace.

3. Fun - My older son was telling me about some MSU sports website he reads a lot. The people who submit postings to it each have some sort of deeply meaningful quote associated with their signature - many of which are from famous coaches or successful athletes. Most of these quotes have to do with meaning-of-life / overcoming adversity / importance of never giving up sorts of things. However, there is one particular guy who posts every now and then who has as his signature quote "I like fun." - 4 year old nephew. Oh YEAH! I can be such a driven crazy work-a-holic at times. It's ever so important that every so often I remember to stop and let myself just plain have some FUN.

4. Food - Tonight we had barbecue ribs, baked beans, corn on the cob and watermelon for dinner. It was EVER so yummy. I used to manage a food bank and I've traveled to parts of the world where people going hungry was not at all unusual. I am very mindful of the fact that it is a rich blessing indeed that I live in the circumstances I do that I have an abundance of wholesome, delicious foods available to me. Because having full cupboards is such a common occurrence in my world, it would be SOOO easy to take that blessing for granted. But I recognize that this is a gift and so I say THANK YOU to the farmers, the fields and the critters that keep me well nourished.

5. Fiction - I just finished up my summer term of online sociology classes and the face-2-face class I was teaching in Academic Planning. That means I have a pocket of time to kick back and enjoy reading more of what I WANT to read rather than being stuffed with grading papers. I got to spend some time curled up with a good book this afternoon and it was delightful. I love my books!

So that's my list of F blessings for the week. There are plenty of others I could have included - from faith to frozen yogurt. What are yours?

Thanks again to Morning Glory for getting me on track with this.

I look forward to this weekly chance of naming by blessings along the rainbow of the alphabet. At some point I may go back and pick up those first few letters I missed before I began. But for now, I'm happy for the letter F!

Alphabet Soup

Now here is a concept I hadn't really thought of since back in the days when my boys (now in their 30's) were avid Sesame Street watchers: It's time to name some blessings brought to you by the Letter E .

What things make my life sparkle that being with E?

1. EARLY morning. There is just something magical about that time of day when the sun isn't quite up but you can feel the night transitioning away... the birds start to sing and the horizon grows murky light. Little by little the eastern sky begins to glow in shades of crimson and magenta. The whole world just feels full of possibility. I love being out in my flowerbeds at that time of day.

2. EMPLOYMENT - Although at times I grouse about my job, I am deeply grateful to have secure employment. I know far too many people who struggle to make ends meet. I not only have a comfortable income, I also have excellent health benefits and four weeks each year of paid vacation on top of 10 holidays and 3 personal days. That's nothing to sniff at. I know it will end in a year when my grant runs out. I just pray that whatever my next job will be can share a portion of these same blessings.

3. ECHINACEA - great for colds and lovely in my flower garden

4. ELECTRICITY - from my toothbrush to my computer to my rechargable GPSr, having all that power available at the flip of a switch is a delight indeed. Lately I'm really trying to be more responsible with this resource, turning off lights whenever I leave a room and powering down my printer at the end of each day. I am mindful of how we energy glutton Americans are impacting this planet. Still, I count it as one of my blessings and give homage to all the things in my house that plug in!

5. ELBOWS - ok, I'm stretching now, but arms would be far less useful without these nifty hinges in the middle of 'em, ya know?


So what blessings do you have in YOUR life that begin with the letter E??

Thanks to Morning Glory for prompting this moment of grateful silliness.