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“Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blest. Blessed be God, who is our Bread: may all the world be clothed and fed.”

What prayer do you and your family offer at mealtimes? Will you gather together and celebrate with your family for Thanksgiving? Will you gather with multiple families, the in-laws and the out-laws, so to speak? Will you run in an annual Turkey Trot? Will you give time and energy to feed those in need?

This semester we have been studying, The Lord's Prayer. We have been taking each of the petitions and digging a little deeper into its meaning and how it might impact us. I’m reminded of Dr. Lerone Wilder’s comments about the use of pronouns and “OUR” daily bread this Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving, I’d like to remind us all of our need to take care of one another. It is a day and season to pause and give God thanks for all the blessings that we have. Might we give thanks for our family? Might we give thanks for our friends? Might we give thanks for learning? Might we give thanks for challenges that help us grow? Might we ask God to help us be better servants as we take care of those around us. I’ve included a couple prayers that you might memorize that draw us beyond ourselves to help one another:

• Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

• Lord, we thank you for the food before us, the family beside us, the love between us, and your presence among us. May your gifts refresh us, O God, and your grace strengthen us. Amen.

 May God bless you this Thanksgiving and fill you with grace and joy enough to share with others.

Listen to this devotion:

Over the next few weeks, we will share Advent and holiday devotions from the Newberry College community. These can be found at newberry.edu.devotions and will be shared via social media and with the College community via email.