“Thank you, God, for putting in Momma’s mind the idea for this great food.”

 

I am currently reading Tim Keller’s new book on prayer and benefiting from discussing it with a group of my faculty colleagues. Also, last week I was blessed to hear a great message on prayer from Steve Gaines in a chapel service. Prayer is an area where I always need growth and these things are stirring up my thoughts. Among many other points, one thing that has come up in the reading and sermon, has been the importance of gratitude, of recognizing afresh the reality that every good and perfect gift comes from God. We know this, but it is easy for me to let my mind and heart slip into neutral and fail to be particularly aware of or alive to this reality. When this happens, gratitude for me becomes an intellectual reality but not a daily cause of wonder and awe, as it ought to be.

With this on my mind, Facebook reminded me of a comment by my youngest child a year ago. When we give thanks at meals I call on different family members to voice our prayer. The younger children, particularly, tend to have common phrases for their prayers. A year ago Timothy began commonly including a new sentence:

“Thank you, God, for putting in Momma’s mind the idea for this great food.”

Unlike many of his other prayer phrases, this one was not picked up from anyone else! He recognized the truth that Mom is indeed a wonderful cook- a point commonly noted at our table. But, he also recognized that even the idea for wonderful recipes and meals should be attributed to God. His words made me smile and were fun to reflect on. They also challenged me to be more aware of the reality of how many ways God is at work around me for my God and to recognize afresh that every good gift does indeed come from God.

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