When I was very young, my grandma taught me to pray at bedtime. The prayer began with "Now I lay me down to sleep" and ended with " God bless Mommy and Daddy, and Eddie, and Aaron, and Elliot, and...." The "God Blesses" were always my favorite part. I would start by asking for blessing on my family, my parents, my brothers, my grandparents, my aunts, uncles, and cousins, (I have a lot) and then I would just think "all of my family, and all of my friends, and all of their families and friends, and all of my friends' families and friends, and all of their families and friends, and all of their families and friends... " I would drift peacefully off to sleep imagining an ever expanding circle of blessings, like ripples that surround a single drop of water on a pond.
At the beginning of this month, I planned to countdown to Thanksgiving on Facebook by listing one at a time things for which I am thankful. I got as far as day one, and became too busy to visit Facebook much. However, I didn't stop thinking about my blessings. While I am blessed in so many ways--I have plenty to eat, warm clothes to wear, a home, a rewarding career---what I am most thankful for is the people God has placed in my life. I think first of my husband, Sean, and my sons, Alex and Brendan. Then I think of my parents, my siblings, Sean's parents, his siblings, our siblings' spouses, their children, my cousins, their spouses and families, my friends, my students, the teachers I teach with, my fellow artists, the collectors who enjoy my bears, and on it goes until I am reminded again of a pond with it's ripples. This time, I don't imagine just one drop of water, but many drops, with many intersecting ripples which create a beautiful pattern across the whole pond.
So, I am thankful for you! Whether you are a ripple close to my center, or whether our ripples intersect somewhere out in the pond, you are a blessing to me, and for that, I am thankful!
At the beginning of this month, I planned to countdown to Thanksgiving on Facebook by listing one at a time things for which I am thankful. I got as far as day one, and became too busy to visit Facebook much. However, I didn't stop thinking about my blessings. While I am blessed in so many ways--I have plenty to eat, warm clothes to wear, a home, a rewarding career---what I am most thankful for is the people God has placed in my life. I think first of my husband, Sean, and my sons, Alex and Brendan. Then I think of my parents, my siblings, Sean's parents, his siblings, our siblings' spouses, their children, my cousins, their spouses and families, my friends, my students, the teachers I teach with, my fellow artists, the collectors who enjoy my bears, and on it goes until I am reminded again of a pond with it's ripples. This time, I don't imagine just one drop of water, but many drops, with many intersecting ripples which create a beautiful pattern across the whole pond.
So, I am thankful for you! Whether you are a ripple close to my center, or whether our ripples intersect somewhere out in the pond, you are a blessing to me, and for that, I am thankful!