Blessings Friends,
We are so excited for you to enjoy your blessing kit! Love, positive energy and prayers were infused into every fiber and branch picked, every stroke of paint and wrapped sage; everything was blessed and prayed over just for you.
We are a small but mighty prayer group that take our prayer requests seriously and know it is an honor to hold to the light other people’s prayers for them. We also like to get outside the church building (just like the podcast name our Pastor Marta co-hosts called, “Jesus has left the building.” Click on the podcast tab to check it out). Every August, before school starts, we bless the preschool and playground on the church grounds with oils and singing bowls. We host the annual St. Francis celebration in our prayer/meditation garden as a reminder to be thankful of the land we live on and to honor those who came before us. And we are very involved in the church pastoral care group, providing meals, making visits or helping move furniture; whatever is needed. So, when someone asked, “what do you think about creating blessing kits for the La Foret Wholeness and Wellness weekend”, everyone was on board and excited!
We spent a lot of time thinking about what would go into your blessing kit; what would be meaningful and why? In the end, we wanted everything to be homemade, if possible, to ensure our own love and blessings would be infused into each item. We wanted to be mindful of re-purposing and recycling, therefore; the boxes and paper are made from recycled products or can be used again. Everything was intentionally chosen for your blessing kit.
Cindy painted the rocks and designed each one to be different and unique, just like each of us.
Leslie wrapped and decorated the sage; her husband found roses for her, and she walked the neighborhood searching for the perfect nature offerings to decorate the sage. She also wrote the blessing.
Barb put a lot of thought into how the bath salts would be presented; she dried the oranges in her dehydrator and added flowers so that the bath salts would be as lovely and peaceful to look at as the bath to follow.
Janet painted the sunburst tie dye sign for us, plus created the crosses along with the help of Marykay who walked the LaForet grounds to find willow twigs for her.
Linda picked out material from her own beloved stash to create the blessing pockets; feel free to add your own notes, trinkets or charms to the pockets to make it personal for you.
There were others on our team who worked behind the scenes to help make decisions, gather materials and attended the market. Maybe you met one of them!
There is no right or wrong way to use a blessing kit. You may choose to use every piece all at once, or you may only use a few pieces here and there depending on your needs and intentions.
In your instructions, you learned that each piece symbolizes something specific to help guide you in preparing for your blessing ritual:
The painted rock symbolizes the earth and feeling grounded, stable and secure.
The sage symbolizes air, the element of knowledge, communication and change.
The candle symbolizes fire which can stir up energy, passion and the power of transformation.
The bath salts symbolize water which calms, purifies and cleanses.
The willow tree is a symbol of new life; its ability to survive is a powerful witness to how we can thrive even in challenging situations.
The cross symbolizes different things to many people, such as hope, love, justice; also, Christianity or being a follower of Jesus.
We would love to hear how your blessing ritual went; what elements did you incorporate; what did you love about your kit and the ritual of blessing yourself or others.
Make sure to come back next week for a fall equinox blessing on Thursday, September 22. Until then…
“May you feel strength as Mother Earth holds you lovingly and firmly as you walk through your day.
May you feel the hope of change as the wind blows through your hair.
May you feel love and a growing energy and passion for life as the sun shines on your face.
May you feel a sense of peace and calm as the rain invites you to dance with it.
May the moon remind you that this too shall pass.
May your neighbors, the trees remind you that you can thrive in challenging situations.
May you find and love yourself in the Sacred and the oneness of all life.”
Your friends at BFCC Prayer Group