Giving Thanks in Canada

It's Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I like that it falls early in October, when the harvest of gardens and fields is almost done, and we are most aware of God's abundance. This early in the season, we also don't get sucked into the immediate Christmas shopping frenzy of our friends who celebrate at the end of November. That makes it easier to see that we have so much for which to be thankful!

Today I'm thankful for one last bouquet of summer flowers, and time with family. How about you?

Monday, October 13, 9 p.m.

When my girls were little, sometimes we would stop in at the church a few blocks from home and whisper thank you prayers. Today mine would go something like this:

Thank you, God, for all the sunshine this weekend.
Thank you for the stars we saw at Elk Island on Friday night, and for the quiet, and for the way the moon came up through the trees.
Thank you, God, for the yellow leaves that are falling everywhere, and that made a huge and perfect pile for my newly-met neighbours Isabelle (3) and Zoe (2) to jump in this afternoon.
Thank you for fresh-out-of-the-garden carrots. Gallons and gallons of them. Sweet, crisp and juicy.
Thank you, God, for Lee, and all his work at helping to put the garden to bed.
Thank you for our neighbours, and their back yard firepit as a neighbourhood meeting place.
Thank you, God, for music. And tulip bulbs to plant so there will be delight in springtime.
Thank you for the fun we had taking family pictures yesterday!
Thank you, God, for the excellent thanksgiving supper last night (which featured melt-in-your mouth Alberta beef instead of turkey, and backyard vegetables and herbs. Oh, and pumpkin and apple pies)!
Thank you for this much-needed weekend and the rest it afforded us.

You are too kind and generous to us. Help us to pay it forward, always.

+AMEN.