As Thanksgiving approaches once again, a plethora of life happenings flood my mind for which I’m thankful.  When I ask at our Thanksgiving table each year for each person to say something for which he/she is thankful, it probably sounds much like it would at your house – family, health, comforts of home, finances, and etc.  Those are great and I ditto each, but today I reflected on a couple of other things – children’s prayers and mother-in-law funnies.

One friend has three wonderful children who have learned from their parents to pray about all things.  Here is one of their prayer sessions. So here’s how the pre-dinner prayers went.
Rafe: (after making a few preliminary statements) Thank you for this food and please take care Nana and anyone who is sick, hurt or sad.
Sophie: God is great, God is good. Let us thank him for our food. Please help Nana Mary and anyone who is in trouble.
Bryce (the toddler at that time): God is great, God is good. And if you’re in trouble, just yell for help. …

I think most of us have Bryce’s prayer down pat. It may be that we yell for help more than we praise God for what he has already done.

Another mother reported: My daughter has recently stopped ending bedtime prayers with “Amen” and now just tells God “goodnight”. She talks like she is talking to her friend!

 I want to be more like her!

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Some people bash their mother-in-law. Others enjoy their humor.  I loved my mother-in-law dearly as she did me. I had to laugh at this exchange though: After Steve’s mother became hard of hearing, she did a funny. Steve was taking her and her sister out to eat. Hazel, her sister, said, “That Barbara is a dandy.” Nona, my mother-in-law, replied, “Yes, but I think she will lose it after Christmas.” Apparently she thought they were talking about my weight; I don’t know what she thought she heard, but she would always take up for me.
???

 A friend shared a story about hers: Richard’s mom and dad had been out on a long trip, traveling home from early afternoon until after dark. She became concerned that the lights on the car kept getting dimmer and dimmer: she thought the alternator was going out. She kept asking if they would make it home. It wasn’t until she walked into her home and turned on the lights and then she realized she still had her sunglasses on!

Another friend told about an incident with her mother-in-law: Once while visiting my mother-in-law, I laid my glasses on the counter before going to bed one night (apparently where she usually kept hers) . The next morning when we got up, she was sitting in her rocking chair visibly upset. When asked what was wrong, she said we all needed to gather the family to come over and pray for her, that she had lost her vision overnight, she couldn’t even see with her glasses on. As we looked, she was wearing my glasses she had picked up off the counter. Needless to say, she had a few hallelujahs!

Let’s be thankful and find laughter every day.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a while.”
– Peter 1:6

How happy are the people who can worship joyfully! Lord, they walk in the light of your presence. – Psalm 89:15