Prayer of Thanksgiving

From time to time I take my robust good health for granted.  This morning I was visiting with my mother (over the phone) while she was busy with last minute Thanksgiving preparations.  She was telling me about her upcoming travels and the many things that needed to be done in the next few weeks.  One of the items on her “to-do” list was making dinner for a local family.  This family is gracefully walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  Dad is a pastor, mom is a homemaker and schools her 6 children at home.  They live a quiet, simple and wholesome life.  And mom has inoperable cancer.  The oldest child has accepted the mantle of womanhood and is schooling and caring for her younger siblings, while she cooks, cleans and runs the home.  Two nights a week, in an effort to ease this young lady’s burden, my parent’s church provides a meal for the family.  It is a small gift, but a gift born of love.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving this year, we will be giving thanks for the bountiful health we enjoy.  But as we give thanks, we will also remember those that are walking a very different path.  We will thank God that He is caring not only for the healthy but especially for the sick, the tired and the weak.  He truly is The Great Physician.

A beautiful Thanksgiving to you all.