I'm Thankful

It is time for my annual thanks-giving post. As I update this poem, I am ever mindful of God's many blessings. Of which, y'all are definitely among the best that I have seen this past year.

I encourage you to take a moment, amidst all the turkey stuffing and family loving and football playing that surrounds this day, to reflect and say a prayer, if you are comfortable with that.

If you are not, simply bow your head in humility and murmur a word of thanks to whatever power you may acknowledge.

And may you all experience the very best a thankful heart can bring.

For geese who fly on feathered wing
For all the songs I’ve yet to sing
For all the words I’ve not yet writ
For all the yarns I’ve yet to knit
I’m thankful...

For shortening sun that slants o’er field
Of fallow corn,for generous yield
For harvest and for hungry need
That all may come to you and feed
I’m thankful...

For chocolate hot and snowflakes cold
For playful youth and wisdom old
For peace to come on winter days
For time to ponder and amaze
I’m thankful...

For all the beauty of your world
For birds and bees; for leaves unfurled
For rocks and trees and lakes and rain
For sunlit skies and waves of grain
I'm thankful...

For historic change; for civic pride
No need to fear; no need to hide
For democracy, opportunity for all
For seeking worth beyond the mall.
I'm thankful...

For family both near and far
For boats and planes and trains and cars
That bring our loved ones closer yet
For telephones if that’s all we get
I’m thankful...

For Cranky Pants and daughters new
For all the love that meets my view
As round my family circle I
Gaze with ever joyous eye
I'm thankful...

For dreams that build and ties that bind
Unexpected blessings there to find
For room to grow and space to roam
For branching out and coming home
I'm thankful...

For stuffing and for pumpkin pie
For abundant love that never dies
For faith that triumphs o'er the grave
For strength to bear, to bend, to brave
I’m thankful...

For friends who comment, friends who care
For foes who question, challenge, dare
Friend or foe I know that they
Rely on you to find their way
I’m thankful...

For inspiration in all its glory
Sometimes elusive, often hoary
Yet always there for me to find
Provided I can calm my mind
I'm thankful...

For possibilities anew
Ravelry, aperitifs, and gardens too
For woolly dreams and lovely lace
For sun to which I turn my face
I'm thankful...

For all the power of thy word
Power spoken – Power heard
Power given to reach out
To share my faith; to share my doubt
I’m thankful...

For all my vice and virtue too
That all may bring me close to you
My sins seem great yet small in space
Compared to thy abundant grace
I’m thankful...

For all the times I felt your care
And all the times you hovered there
Oft unseen but heartfelt – yes!
(Especially when I’ve made a mess)
I’m thankful...

As oft I do - no perfection found
My sins are many, perceptions bound
By earthly fashion, earthly fears
Earthly passion, earthly tears
I’m thankful...

For prayer – whichever way preferred
For shouting silence and quiet word
For Quakers, Catholics, Episcopalians too
For all who hear and all who do
I’m thankful...

For rocks to stand on, steady ground
Haven sought and sanctuary found
For all the many times that we
Are fallen, faithless, redeemed, free
I’m thankful...

And at the last I pray that we
Remembered as pilgrims be
Always bound to distant place
Always bound to know thy grace
I’m thankful...