Book of You. Part 1

On and off over the years I have put together various items in boxes for my kids, the plan is to hand it over the day they each get married and they can see various milestones over their years. This has things such as the No 1 single the day they were born, the newspaper for that day, a dedicated song to them that I'd chosen specifically for them and all manner of things along the way. As I am trying to decide if I should give the older boys their boxes sooner due to us moving, I got to thinking that in all this stuff there is very little that tells them about me. I know many of us mums are so focused on building up our kids that we forget that we ourselves are part of who they are. So I set about putting together a paper bag book for each of the kids where each page will be a letter from the alphabet (not in order that's too boring!) relating to a word that describes me in some way. After some thought I thought I would do a similar thing here too....though not about me specifically but hopefully to inspire you to do something about you. I realise not everyone is into crafts the way I am, so this challenge can be done in any way you want to do it, from a blog post, a journal entry, a conversation with your kids or any other way that works for you.

So my challenge is this:

Every month I will post a letter of the alphabet and some suggestions with that word. Of course you might think of something better or more relevant to yourself. I would love it if you shared with me anything you want to add to this concept, any way that you take this challenge and anything else that would help us leave something for our kids.

So, todays letter is D. D because its my first initial and here is what i've come up with that describes part of who I am.

Deborah ~ Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, Jewish, Biblical

Other Scripts: דְבוֹרָה (Hebrew)

Pronounced: DEB-ə-rə (English), DEB-rə (English) [key]
Means "bee" in Hebrew. Deborah was a heroine and prophetess who led the Israelites to defeat Canaanites as told in the Old Testament Book of Judges. Also in the Old Testament, this was the name of the nurse of Rebecca. Long a common Jewish name, Deborah was first used by English Christians after the Protestant Reformation, and it was popular among the Puritans.

Dedicated ~ "wholly committed to something, as to an ideal, political cause, or personal goal: a dedicated artist" When I decide on something I tend to go all out for it, if I get lost or stuck then I take a step back, assess and analyse it before finding a new way to 'rededicate' myself to it. This is a trait I think I have been born with as dedication comes easy to me and something that has blessed me profoundly over the years.

Dopey ~ This doesn't sound like a positive word eh? But I think i'm a realist in life and I dont mind admitting that some things are just part of who I am and dopey is definitely one of them at times! This is a part of me that says sentences in the wrong sequence, dysfunctional when i'm over tired and trying to wake up to get the kids to school on time. When i've toured the house three times to do something and each time found a domino effect of other things to do then realised I still hadn't done what I set out to do! I accept this part of me and my kids think its funny. I aim to please!! Lol

Drive ~ I have always enjoyed driving, the freedom of just getting in my car and going, sometimes without a map or purpose. When my boys were younger and school was out we'd wake up, load the car and just go. Sometimes not coming home for days on end. We would visit landmark places for 200 miles, visit family and friends hundreds of miles away or just go and see where a particular road leads to, have a picnic, find a park and kick a ball round. I just wish I was into photography then like I am now cos I know there are a lot of lost memories from back then.


 
Disciple ~ From an early age I've believed in Jesus Christ. At the age of 8 I stood and cried in a school church service because I didn't want Jesus to die or for anyone to hurt him. I wasn't raised strongly in faith but I did go to many churches with my mum over the years and knew that I believed in Him. I knew I loved Him even if I didn't know anything about Him. Before I converted to the church 9 years ago I lived a good life where I was mindful of Jesus Christ but knew that I didn't know enough about him to really know what He would expect of me in these times. All the churches I investigated didn't answer that question or fill me with anything so I just plodded on till eventually the missionaries found me. Now I am one of the Lords disciples and I'm so grateful that at last I have found the one true church and that through Jesus Christ I can learn so much, even from mistakes and no matter what, I am loved unconditionally.

Here are just 5 examples of my letter. My challenge to you is to either use the same letter (D) or choose the first letter of your name and record in some way some descriptions of who you are. Don't forget though, I would LOVE to share this journey with you if you choose to. If anyone wants to include it in their blogs, please send me your blog link and I will link you up on my blog and we can hopefully share this concept to as many people as possible to share the love.

For more of Debs, waffle over on Life as Me.