Pamela Graf Short counts her farm heritage as one of the great blessings of her life. On the Ohio homestead, she was surrounded by neighbors who understood the value of blessing one another with fellowship, kindness, generosity, and laughter. Many blessings in this book flow from her childhood memories. Others are gleaned from her diverse vocational history as a nurse, a teacher of world religions, a pastor, and a mother. “I think I am correct in saying that the first formal blessing given to me as a babe was Numbers 6:24-26: ‘May God bless you and keep you. May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May God look kindly upon you and give you peace.’ And though blessed throughout my life, it was not until I read Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen’s My Grandfather’s Blessings that I really understood blessing as an unconditional gift of pure grace.”
Pamela is an ordained ministrer in the Presbyterian Church, USA, serving Jesus Christ through the Maumee Valley Presbytery (Ohio and Michigan). She and husband Peter are grateful to count their family as blessings: Benjamin and Lauren, Allison and Andrew, grandsons Samuel, Isaac, Nathan, and Jaden, whose brief earthly life broke open a mighty waterfall of love.
Gwen Stamm, the oldest of six children, grew up on a farm near Archbold, Ohio. Besides raising turkeys, her family cared for their pets, including cats and dogs, instilling in Gwen a sensitivity for the well-being of animals and all creatures of the natural world.
In addition to work on the farm, Gwen and two of her sisters closest in age spent much time in their early years singing as a trio, playing, and drawing cut-out families together.
When she was age nine or ten, Gwen’s mom and dad gave her a book of drawing instructions, a gift which has led her on a revelatory, vivid, colorful adventure of exploring with artistic creations ever since.
Gwen studied art and design at Hesston (Kansas) College and Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. She worked as a graphic designer at Goshen (Indiana) College and Mennonite Publishing House in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. Currently, she does freelance and volunteer art, design, and calligraphy projects for clients and the church she attends. She’s a member of the Calligraphy Guild of Pittsburgh, and occasionally attends calligraphy workshops which the guild offers.
Gwen lives in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Robert Eby, and their beloved orange tabby cat, Georgi.
Reading to children is one of the great pleasures of my life. I remember reading Carole Boston Weatherford’s Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Kadir Nelson’s illustrations are stunning! It seemed to me that the words of the book floated across the pages. I remember thinking, “If I ever write a children’s book, I want the words to flow as an integral part of the pictures.”
I don’t recall the first moment I began writing the words for Blessings Flow. (Keep in mind I have regular “senior moments”!) I do recall that I wanted the words to be pure gift, requiring nothing of the listener other than a choice to receive or not receive the blessings. With the conviction that blessings come from God through the speaker to the listener, it was important to me to include the actions or characters of God in each of the blessings. And what might the pictures look like? The Bible sometimes likens God to a bird, a gardener, a house cleaner. In Psalm 139 God is referred to as someone who works with threads “God knit me together in my mother’s womb.” With those thoughts in mind, and bits of my own story, the blessings began to come together.
Now back to the thought of words flowing. I was first introduced to Gwen’s artistry in Advent of the year of our LORD 2002 when she designed the bulletin covers for Mennonite Church USA. I think it was when I graduated from seminary that a friend of mine gave me a piece of Gwen’s art work that has hung in my office ever since. Later I served as an interim associate pastor at the church where she grew up, Lockport Mennonite, near Stryker, Ohio. The church was in the midst of a visioning process and Gwen was willing to travel from her home in Pennsylvania to join us for a special day of pondering together. All that to say, when it came time to considering an illustrator, I contacted Gwen.
You likely know that children enjoy the sounds of rhymes. The blessings were pretty choppy at first. In order to get the cadence and the rhymes to flow in the same manner throughout the book, Gwen’s husband Rob offered assistance, as did her friend David Garber. The edits of my friend, LuAnn Stuckey, helped polish the words along the way.
What a work of genius! The spirit of the text and the spirit of your artistic touches are a perfect blend. I also appreciated the short biographies. I hope this publication finds its way onto the NYT list of best books!!
Every once in awhile your husband nails your birthday surprise and gives you something that just takes your breath away! The “Blessings Flow” book is a work of art, both in words and illustrations. The colors are bright and playful and frame the names for God in such a meaningful way. Every time I look through the book, (many times!) I find some something I didn’t see before. Thank you for this beautiful book. I look forward to seeing your next one!
This beautiful book illustrates for children and adults the abundant mysterious vision of a loving god, with kindness and mercy. It’s so powerful. The wonderful original art explores so vibrantly the many blessings that a gracious, hopeful, and healing God of love brings forth. I absorb one page (one blessing) from this book each morning to remind my overbusy mind that – though it be obscured at times by heavy clouds – there are simple blessings abundant in my own life that remind me of a stillness and a LOVE inside of me. …and then I can catch my breath!
Blessings Flow is not a typical book of prayers, but offers blessings from an unconventional point of view. Like the best of children’s books, it can be read – and delighted in – on many different levels, with food for thought for both child and adult readers. Wave after wave, the pages flow from one to another, each with a short blessing poem set in flowing calligraphy, against a dynamic yet reflective illustration, providing a feast for the eyes, a feast for the mind, a feast for the soul.
Reading the Blessings Flow book aloud is a great way to connect with children of all ages, to spark their imagination and stimulate curiosity about God’s many blessings.
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