Thanksgiving afterthoughts....

We've cooked, we've eaten, we've cleaned up, we've walked ... and now everyone is off in different directions of the house. The guys are watching football ... the kids are rocking out to the X Box rock band with two guitars, drums, and a singer. The rest of us are doing whatever....

As we gathered around the dining room table for our mid-day meal, my stepdad led us in prayer. Instead of his usual blessing, he saw one he liked* so he prayed:

Oh, Heavenly Father,
We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.
We thank thee for health and remember the sick.
We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.
May these remembrances stir us to service,
That thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.

One of my sisters, who is an elementary school teacher, helped the nieces make pine cone turkeys for centerpieces. They cut out paper feathers and decorated one side, and on the other side they had everyone write things they were grateful for. After we had eaten, the kids each took a turkey and read what its feathers had listed. Things we were thankful for ranged from "chocolate" to "libraries" to "our Armed Forces" to "President Bush's leadership" to "snowboarding" to "cute shoes" ...

... but the two most popular were "family" and "freedom."


*Blessing from "Dear Abby."