Four Generation Thanksgiving

I do think that having a day to prompt us to intentionally express gratitude is very healthy. As I moved from lectio divina to Psalm prayers Sunday morning (November 24) Colossians 4:2 seemed an appropriate introduction to the Thanksgiving week. “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.”

This year I am especially alert to the uniqueness of our four generation Thanksgiving we are anticipating. Since we moved from Texas to Wisconsin in 2017, our son Jon and his family (wife Leanne and children Hannah and Isaac) from Pennsylvania and our son Erik from Texas have joined us (son David, wife Rachel, their children Sam and Elizabeth, and of course Candy and me) for Thanksgiving. A rare opportunity to have all three sons and four grandchildren together at the same time. This past summer Candy’s 92 year old Dad, Charlie Miller, moved from Minnesota to a senior living residence in Wisconsin just a mile and a half from us. Someone may have a better memory than I about this, but I can’t recall when we’ve had all twelve of us together like this at the same time before. And I am quite aware that repeating it may not be very likely. Hannah is about to graduate from college and head into her adult journey, which will take her on many adventures. Sam is starting college in the fall which will alter the rhythms of his life.

As I have reflected on this occasion during the week, I kept coming back to Psalm 128 as my foremost expression of gratitude this Thanksgiving, and have prepared this table grace for us to pray together at dinner on Thursday, incorporating our unique time with the Psalm.

Oh God, before whom generations rise and pass away, we give you heartfelt thanks today that we have four generations together around this table. Thank you for the wonder of being a family who though scattered in different places are together in Christ.

Thank you that “Grandpa Charlie,” is with us. Thank you for his long life of serving you, praying for and sharing the joy of trusting Jesus with many people. We ask that you give him strength and joy for every one of his days.

Thank you that Erik is with us again for the third Thanksgiving in a row. Thank you for the fulfillment he gets from teaching many to play music. Thank you for Tom Irwin sharing an apartment with him. Thank you for Central Christian Church with whom he gives and receives.

                                                                                                                                             

Thank you for Leanne and Jon being with us again this Thanksgiving. Thank you that Hannah is about to finish college and head into the adventures ahead of her. Guide and empower her on her journey. Thank you for Isaac, especially his musical gifts. As he continues in college, lead him on your path. Be with Leanne and Jon as they reach out to many from their “empty nest.” Thank you for the opportunities you give them in church, work, and neighborhood.

Thank you for Rachel and David and our mutual support in our duplex. Thank you for Sam’s opportunity starting college next year. Nurture his creative gifts and point him into his future. Thank you for the richness of bringing Elizabeth into our family. Nurture a fresh spirit of possibilities as she will soon be the only teen in the house. Thank you for the very special opportunities Rachel and David have in their schools and in the church.

Thank you for “Grandma Candy” and “Grandpa Norm” and the love and partnership of their shared journey with Jesus over the years with so many wonderful people. Fill them with deep joy of the blessing of seeing their children’s children as Psalm 128 says.

“Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!”

This from my prayer Psalms (144:12-15) for Sunday morning seemed a wonderful lead-in to Thanksgiving week when we will have all three of our sons, all four of our grandchildren, and Candy's Dad together all at once. The first four generation gathering in a very long time.

The Psalm is rich with plenty of other themes which I barely scratched this morning and they are still brewing within me, but this really stuck out. I will not incorporate it into the table grace, but have preserved my social media post with this entry.

May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace. May our barns be filled, with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets. Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord.