Giving Thanks for the Regular Food

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV)

The other day my family and I went out to eat.  As we waited for our food to arrive, conversation turned to blessing our food before meals (pretty sure Cecelia brought this up).  So when the food arrived, I suggested we pray.  Cecelia said, "Oh, no!  I don't pray for regular food... I only pray for snacks!"

My, my!  She IS the typical Christian, isn't she?  How often do we forget to be grateful for the things we just expect to have... like the sun rising in the morning and ourselves getting our of bed healthy and happy?  Like food on our table, a roof over our heads, cars in the driveway (ofen one for every driver in the family)?  Like running water in our homes or light at the flip of a switch?  Like a store in driving distance where we can buy meat that we don't have to slaughter ourselves?  Like air conditioning to get us through 100 degree summers and heat to get us through freezing winters?  Like having enough money to stretch far enough to pay the bills and buy necessities and a few luxuries here and there?

Like Cecelia we tend to remembeer to give thanks only for the extra special "snacks" in life... the rainbow after a really bad storm; the "all clear" diagnosis after cancer treatment; the new home; the birth of a baby; a job after weeks or months of unemployment...

Let us be grateful NOW for the things we would miss dearly if we didn't have them.  Let us spend our days in prayers of gratitude for the overflow of blessings that we all receive each and every day.  Let our hearts be truly grateful for the "regular food" as well as the extra special "snacks" of life.

Father,
Thank you for the little things that sustain our lives each day.  Help us to be ever mindful of them and know that they can be gone in a split second of disaster.  Give us truly grateful hearts.  Amen.

Joys:  The things children say that make us think; the sun coming up this morning; a safe and dependable car... and a truck to use if my car has to be in the shop.