With graduations coming up, it's time to look for some cards to wish the graduate well.
Saying congratulations is a message that tells someone you are happy for his/her success or good luck.
There are many ways to express this 'acknowledgment' of a job well done, to show our approval of their accomplishments, to wish them well at their success.
We extend our 'best wishes' to a couple on their wedding and an 'awww, so sweet' to parents of a new baby, and a 'well done' at graduations. We give a 'thumbs up' for a new job or a promotion and for success in any aspect of life. We shout 'Yes!' and 'Alright!' when our sports team scores a touchdown or hits a home run.
Words of congratulations express our praise and approval. It's a blessing, a flattering expression, a way to show we care even if it's shortened in today's tech world of Tweets and Texting as WTG (Way to Go). The message is the same no matter how we say it.
Graduation Congratulation Cards
Image Source: Pixabay
Graduations are not just for high school or college. We often celebrate with graduations starting with nursery school. And a few years ago I attended my grandson's kindergarten graduation complete with caps & gowns and a diploma! It happened in the same week that I attended my oldest grandson's high school graduation!
Let's look at a few greeting card suggestions for the many special graduation events in our lives.
This cute cat graduation card is suitable for any graduation, but especially perfect for a young cat-loving child graduating from nursery school or kindergarten. Card is printed on a thick card with a silk finish. Comes with a white envelope. The inside is blank for your own message. This graduation card is created by Ruth Mutch for her Etsy Shop Penguin Parade Shop.
Celebrate a major milestone in a kid's life with these cute handmade, hand drawn greeting cards featuring a sweet, pudgy penguin in cap and gown (leave a note with desired school colors!!) contemplating all the good things that await them. Card in pictures is specifically for 8th grade but can be customized with whichever grade (5th, 6th, 8th, etc!) the child is graduating from. The list inside the card can also be modified - just include what you would like to be listed in your notes to the designer, along with the color for the cap and gown.
Cards created by Rebecca Miller for her Etsy Store Crafting Away the Feels.
Graduation Card is professionally printed on matte cardstock
The card is blank inside for room to write your message
• A2 folded card (Size: 4.25" x 5.5")
• Blank inside for you to write your own personal note
• Letterpress with love on my 1948 Vandercook letterpress
• Printed on luxe, heavy weight 100% cotton card stock
• Paired with a coordinating colored envelope
Created by DeLuce Design on ETSY
In Summary
Source: Pixabay
This has been a sampling of the graduation cards available for your favorite graduate. For more ideas, browse here.
Best wishes to all graduates in your future endeavors.
*Graduation Cards Review written by (c) Wednesday Elf
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
When our hearts are especially thankful, we can often express our thanksgiving and praise best with music. Even when our hearts are heavy, music can remind us of all God has done for us and help us remember his faithfulness during times stress. Songs of praise can often bring gratitude back to our hearts. Today I'd like to share some music and verses that help my own heart give thanks for God's many blessings.
Prepare Your Heart to Praise the Lord with Music - Photo Courtesy of Pixabay
Let's get started with a song I first heard back in the seventies when I had many albums by the St. Louis Jesuits. I think I had all of them. Even though I'm Protestant, the Catholic Church was more innovative in writing music that expressed what was in my young adult heart. Here's a sample I found on YouTube so you could hear the complete song, "Glory and Praise to Our God."
Even though I'm now old, I still appreciate the simple melodies and beautiful harmony of many of the St. Louis Jesuits' songs.
The Music in This Thanksgiving Album Has All I the Qualities I Want
When I started searching Amazon for some of my favorite songs of thanksgiving and praise, I wanted to find an album with a variety of styles and artists. If I'm going to listen for a while, my attention wanders if the voices or music styles don't change periodically. It's especially important to me that the rhythm changes. Even creators of albums by a single artist try to vary the rhythms as they put an album together.
I also wanted music with understandable words. All you need to do is listen to YouTube for a while to know that some choirs and smaller groups enunciate their words more clearly than others. It's wonderful that some videos show the words as they are sung, but most of us aren't able to watch our music on video when we are driving or doing the dishes. I don't know about you, but I normally listen to music to keep from getting bored while I'm doing some physical task
My personal music preference is songs with strong melody that beg me to sing along, and at least some harmony as the music flows. I want music that will lift my spirit, and tunes work with the words to do that.
This album meets all my criteria. There are a few songs included I wouldn't buy separately, but they work in the album to vary the styles and rhythms. Click through to see a complete listing of all the songs and sample them right from the page. Although the thumbnails featured on the videos show different covers, the songs are the same ones by the same artists you will find on this video. OCP puts many of the songs in several different albums. If a song is only from a different album, I will tell you.
What's in the Glory & Praise: Third Edition, Vol. 26 Album?
Here are some of the videos I've found that will let you hear more complete recordings of some of the artists featured on the album. Most of the traditional hymns included are sung by the OCP Session Choir. Here is their YouTube presentation of one of the most popular Thanksgiving songs you will find in the album -- "Now Thank We All Our God." It dates all the way back to Pilgrim times and I grew up singing it every Thanksgiving.
I'll be the first to admit that the cover of this album is not very exciting, but one isn't going to listen to the cover.
There are also many songs associated with the St. Louis Jesuits which you can stream or still get on CD's. Among them was the song in the first video I showed you above. This next one, also on the album, is by Bob Dufford and the St. Louis Jesuits. I'm giving you the visual version here. It's prettier than the album cover.
The album also features another of my favorite Thanksgiving songs: "Let All Things Now Living." It's sung to the popular folk tune of "The Ash Grove" by the OCP Session Choir.
The songs by Grayson Warren Brown are a bit slower and reflect a different cultural style. Here's "Been So Busy." This artist was new to me.
If you'd like to sample more of this artist, which I did, you can not only steam his music, but also buy his CD. I like that, because I don't have an MP3 Player. Actually, I do, but it's ancient and I never figured out how to work it.
While checking out all this music, I see that to get the music I really want to buy and play it in a portable form I may need to invest in an MP3 Player. I'm checking out this one.
Still More Songs to Check out from More Artists on this Album
"Grateful" by Tom Tomaszek is also included in the album. Here it is complete. It's yet another style.
All these new styles are getting to me. I need to calm down a bit with another traditional hymn by the choir. Here's another of my favorites: "All Creatures of Our God and King." It dates back to St. Francis of Assisi in 1225 and was translated into English by William Draper in 1926. It appears some of the words have been modernized since then. The tune dates back to 1623. This version is from the Cambridge Singers and a different album, but the song is also sung by the OCP Session Choir on the Glory and Praise Album linked to above. I put this version here because I like the extra organ and trumpet music in many of the selections.
The O Praise the Lord of Heaven album it comes from features only a couple of the Thanksgiving hymns in my featured album. Most of the selections in O Praise the Lord of Heaven will appeal more to those who are "high church" or who enjoy classical music. If that's you, try the downloads from this album.
We've almost got this album covered. I haven't shown you all the songs, but you can sample the rest on the Amazon site. I do want to leave you with one last song from the album by an artist who was new to me and I'm glad to have met. It's another song I love, "Alle, Alle, Alleluia" by Richard Ho Lung. It will wake you back up if the slower songs were making you drift off.
If you enjoyed that song, you might want to check out others by the same artist and a couple of others on Working for the Lord. Most feature the faster rhythms, and some of the songs include female vocalists.
At least we've reached the last song from it I want to share with you in video. This is the version you will find on our featured album. The hymn has been around with many different tunes. The English translation by Jane Campbell has been around since 1861. This version of "All Good Gifts" is by Kevin Keil.
I hope you've enjoyed our video tour of Glory & Praise: Third Edition, Vol. 26. If you'd like to purchase the album or individual songs just click the link to see the Amazon listing where you can listen to parts of each song. You can stream 13 of them for free if you Try Amazon Music Unlimited 30-Day Free Trial. That membership will also allow you to listen to many of the songs in the other albums featured here. If you'd like to do that, I'd really appreciate it if you'd click the affiliate link above to look at the offer instead of the one on whatever Amazon page you land on if you go to look at the music.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
![Greatness and Glory Are Yours [CD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51iURVQeqjL._SL500_.jpg)
. That membership will also allow you to listen to many of the songs in the other albums featured here. If you'd like to do that, I'd really appreciate it if you'd click the affiliate link above to look at the offer instead of the one on whatever Amazon page you land on if you go to look at the music.
