“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing! Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name! For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations”.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
I was rummaging through old cards and letters I didn’t even realize my parents still had. I came upon a letter I had written to Mother on her birthday. I really don’t remember writing this letter. I do however, remember being single and a college student at the time.
I have read and reread this letter over the last couple days. I’ve shed many tears, tears being released by all the memories which are coming back to me. And I wanted to share what I wrote to her with you. Many of you are blessed to have such a mother. Many of you may not be. Please remember though, we all have the potential to be this type of mother. It may not be to our own children even, but there is someone out there who surely is in need of your mothering, your unconditional love. Enjoy!
Dear Mother, There aren’t enough opportunities to express the thoughts that occur in the passing of my day. But as I struggle to mature into the person whom you, Dad, and God desire me, I find myself ‘impressioning’ a very beautiful person-that person is you. When you were my age, I was only occurring. Being a mother is very special and my ultimate goal is to be a good mother and wife and I know that I will look back at the manner in which you and Dad reared us. For now though, the Lord is leading me elsewhere, I only pray that I am interpreting his will correctly. His will is all I desire. My life is so confusing, I become frightened, and goof thing up. I wonder how and WHY God would use me-or even want to use me!! But I look at Moses, for one and how doubtful he was. God certainly used him. Life is difficult to understand, but having a Christian home and family is something I am thankful for and do find a security in. Never change, just keep getting better! And pray for me. I know you don’t always agree with the ways I do things, but take those things with a grain of salt. Mother, I just want to wish you a very Happy Birthday and thank you for being someone whom I can impression myself after. Love you always.
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We have a decorative cutting board with “give us this day our daily bread” beautifully stenciled in German. This prayer comes from Matthew chapter six and is part of the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Jesus taught to his disciples. Another variation of the Lord’s Prayer can be found in Luke chapter eleven.
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV).
When our son was little we taught him to bow his head and listen as we led in prayer before meals and again at his bedtime. When he became old enough we would listen as he prayed at bedtime and also occasionally before a meal. And as he got older we allowed him to say grace before a meal while guests were present. We never told him what words to use, but wanted him to feel free to pray whatever he felt he wanted to tell God. Of course we assumed that his hearing our prayers would serve as examples. It made perfect sense that he should thank God for our food when praying before a meal. And since he was still a little guy even thanking God for our food at bedtime was okay.
However as he got a little older I began to notice he absolutely always started his prayers by thanking God for our food, even if it happened to be bedtime. At first I thought, oh my, is he hungry or afraid he’s going to starve? Our cabinets were always full and we never shamed him into finishing all the food on his plate by reminding him of all the starving children in the world. I did though become a little conscious of his always thanking God for our food, wondering if others noticed it as well. Did they think we were starving him?
I finally came to realize that our little boy’s prayers were simple and direct. He knew what was important. He knew what to be thankful for. And one of those things was food, our daily food, our daily bread, something we often take for granted, something our little boy taught me to stop and really be thankful for.
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