A Thanksgiving Dinner for Mom

Tonight's dinner to celebrate my Mom finishing 6 cycles of chemotherapy was intimately gathered by close friends.  I still do not know what to feel about the past 6 months as it has been a mix of events that were challenging and painful.  But I briefly wrote a thanksgiving prayer that we prayed before meals and sang a worship song to lift up our gratitude.  I suppose for whatever it's worth, at the end of it all, God prevails.

gratitude for family, health, love and friends.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Lord God, what is gratefulness but the realization that we are where we are supposed to be at this moment. We thank you Lord that for the past 6 months of our lives, you have ensured us that we will never forget your faithfulness. You are a God who is always true to His word and indeed you have blessed us with the grace of bearing a cross that allowed us to share in your suffering but also share in your resurrection.

We thank you for my Mom’s health and for all the love that you have showered our family with during this time that our faith in you has been tested. We thank you that in the midst of her pain you have been the balm that eases all her ache. We thank you that your gentleness surrounds her waking moments so that everytime she flinches and walks on rocky ground, you are there to steady her path.

We thank you for my Dad’s patience and strength. For all throughout the uncertain moments that clouded us during this time, you have given him the certainty that can only be found by one who has completely trusted in fulfillment of your word. We thank you that you have blessed him with big heart that has been able to embrace all the challenges in our lives to keep our family together.

We thank you for giving me and my sister the time and the openness to experience this journey in complete surrender. We thank you that you have drawn us closer to your heart as we hid under the shadow of your wings.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have blessed us with a gathering of relatives and friends whose love has given us a glimpse of heaven. In their company and fellowship we have found great solace and comfort beyond all measure. By their steadfastness we have learned to keep trusting that all things work together for our own good. In their embrace we have been able to know the divine stillness that is present when you want to make yourself known.

We thank you Lord that you have given us this chance to experience life to its fullest and the chance to realize that your healing grace does not only touch our bodies but our souls. We thank you for this journey that you have called each one of us here to draw closer to the truth about who You are. For it is in you that we have come to know how perfect love casts out all fear and that Your love never fails.