Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

I want you think about something for just a minute. What is your mealtime routine? Eating is part of it of course, but is there anything else you do … say before or after the meal, besides putting the food on the table and then cleaning up.

At our house … once the food is on the table and we have rounded up the kids, we do a typical table prayer, sometimes known as the common table prayer. Here’s how it starts, “Come Lord Jesus …”. After that we all start in and enjoy our meal.

Once we are all done eating and usually after the kids have gone and washed their hands and faces, we conclude by giving thanks back to God with this prayer, “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. For His mercy endures forever.”  Then we start in on the task of cleaning up the dishes and putting any sort of leftovers away.

Now the kids have been coming home from school with some different prayers which we have incorporated into our meal time routines. I can’t share the words with you as they are still relatively new to me, but let me say this … they are interesting. Not interesting because of what they say but interesting in how they are said, or should I say sung. You see, the one I can remember them doing the most is to the tune of Superman … and it even has actions to it. You can look up the various versions online, your little ones will love it.

 There is another one which we do and we change the words up on it depending on the season. Sometimes we will even throw in something odd like our favorite hockey or baseball team if we know they won the night before.  It goes like this:

Oooooooooooooooh,
The Lord is good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need
The sun and the rain and the apple seed.
The Lord is good to me.
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.
Aaaaaaaaaaaamen!

As we celebrate our national day of Thanksgiving this month, which is sadly overshadowed by Black Friday shopping and Christmas, but I digress, we take a moment to stop and give thanks to God for all the wonderful blessings He has given us. Some families even go around the table on Thanksgiving and have everyone say what it is they are thankful for.

But as we know … Thanksgiving is not the only day in which we can give thanks to God. Giving thanks to God is something which we should do every day.

In my confirmation class we are currently studying the Apostles’ Creed. In the first article, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth”, we learned that there is A LOT which packed into this one sentence. Luther puts it this way in his explanation.

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. That’s a lot right there … but Luther goes on.
He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.
He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.
All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.
This is most certainly true.

In the midst of the craziness, the busyness, the stress, the chaos, the joys, and the exciting moments of life … God gives us soooooo much! It’s easy to take it all for granted … I know I certainly do at times. And yet even in the midst of those times, God still continues to provide for you and me out of His amazing goodness.

As we go through this month, as we celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, whether it be in person or through Zoom or Facetime … let’s remember and give thanks for how God has blessed us this past year and also how He continues to bless us each and every day. And if you’re willing … do it in some fun and crazy way.

God’s Blessings & Happy Thanksgiving from my family to you and yours!!!
Pastor Mike