Thanksgiving on the 4th

Today, it was fun to get to come over and see you on the 4th as we have celebrated many of those together over the years: 


2014

2015

2015

2021

I was grateful for the chance to hear how you are doing processing the fact that your dad and Liam are coming home tonight since Liam got injured and the trip got cut short. As you all welcome them home and adjust to a different summer than you had imagined, I wanted to share this prayer has been really meaningful to me over the years... 


A General Thanksgiving

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things.  Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 139

Image
I got up early this morning, threw on my wetsuit (as it was in the 50's this morning), and headed out to Green Lake. I was swimming the same path that I swam the first day I swam and marked 13 weeks until your birthday , and I found myself praying for you once again and wondering what other things might come to mind for you as it's now only 2 weeks until your big day!!!  I thought of you turning 13 and then thought of Psalm 139 as we had Anna and Taylor memorize that passage when they were turning 13.  Here's the psalm put to music from someone we knew when we lived in Nashville singing with the African Children's Choir from Uganda. I think you will really like it and that it will bring back some memories of your time in Malawi.  https://youtu.be/n8tOSRJ90BM May you know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made  and may you trust God to lead you and guide you all your days.... 
Read more

Flags

Image
This evening, my mom invited some family over for dinner, and I got a chance to talk to my cousin Carney who is 89 through most of the evening. She has just moved into an assisted living space after being on a farm most of her life, and it has been really disorienting for her.   We talked about some of her hopes and disappointments, and I told her the story that has been really meaningful to me that I came over to read to your dad and to Liam a night or so after they returned early from their bike trip. You were not there, so I wanted to share it with you here too.  ----------------------------------------------------------------- I have a friend who is a textile artist. Among other things, she sews nautical flags because, besides the fact that they’re gorgeous, there’s an accidental poetry to them. According to Merritt Tierce, “There are forty flags in a complete set of international maritime signal flags--- one for each letter of the English alphabet, one for each numbe...
Read more

Teamwork

Image
Over the last couple of days, I got to paddle the Nantahala Falls with my dad. This is classified as a Class III rapid, and it's a good idea to scout the rapid before running it to make sure you know how you are going to chart your course.  As we were getting in the boat yesterday, I was a little nervous as we had not paddled yet together on this trip, and I really wanted to make sure I pulled my weight and did my part well as he is quite an experienced paddler.  I was in the bow (the front) and he was in the stern (the back) of the boat, and while the front paddler has an important role to play with solid forward strokes and some steering, the person in the stern has the most important part in determining the steering in the back.   Thankfully, we nailed it both days together (with a high five at the end after we paddled into an eddy), and let's just say that he made me look good!  I loved getting to experience the thrill of getting down the rapid safely and su...
Read more