A Thanksgiving Prayer

O God of all Creation: You have cared for the earth, and have filled it with your riches. Abundance flows in your steppes, through the pastures and wilderness. You provide for our land, softening it with showers, bathing it in light, and blessing it with growth.

The hills sing with joy; the meadows are covered with flocks; the fields deck themselves with wheat; and together they glorify your name!

On this occasion of our Thanksgiving, we as a nation take rest from our labors to consider your many blessings. We thank you for our freedoms, and for the opportunity to contribute our skills, our attributes and our values toward the good of society.

We thank you for the mixture of our cultures, blending us into one people under God. Help us to be a light unto other nations, and to further the cause of freedom and justice all over the world.

We remember those who are less fortunate than we. We lift up in prayer the victims of poverty and racism, and all those who suffer from forms of political and economic oppression. Let the word that goes forth from our mouths speak of your peace, and let us proclaim our hope in Christ as Savior of all humankind.

We pray that you will bless all those who gather here, as we have come to experience your presence among us. Give us your guidance, O God, and empower us for your work. For we claim nothing for ourselves, but return all honor and glory unto you, and offer our thanks and praise. Amen.

From "Prayers for God's People"
Thomas P. Roberts-editor

Re-think Christmas?

I saw this on Jess & Jake's blog and it really got me to thinking about Christmas, how commercialized it is and what we can and should be doing for others this time of year. I think for next year my family is going to get together and play board games rather than exchanging gifts. The little ones will still get presents, but I think it's good for the family to just spend time together and realize that Christmas isn't just about presents, but the presence of Jesus in our life. Very inspiring....I hope you think so too.

Silver Bells

Well, we all decided to venture into the cold night air last Friday and go see the Silver Bells parade and watch the tree lighting ceremony at the Capitol. It was fun, not as fun as some year's past, but I enjoyed spending some quality time with the fam. Bubby and John stayed home at Dad's because Bubby was sick with the flu. Even though I didn't touch the kid, I ended up with the flu and had to stay home from work today because of it. And it wasn't only me that was sick. McKinley, Dad, Alexa, Ben, and John all had different variations of it this past weekend. I guess that Ben, Dad and I had it the worst though. I am starting to feel better and am ready to go back to work tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great Turkey day. Although, we aren't having turkey. Grandpa wanted Chinese for Thanksgiving. I know, weird, but when you get to be his age we try to oblige him in his requests. I am going to see if I can maybe sneak some turkey in at Julia's on Thursday, though. I have to call her first to make sure it is okay. Have a good week!

Spartan Spectacular

This past weekend my dad, me and my two nieces, Mikayla and Mackenzie went to the Spartan Spectacular at the Wharton Center on the MSU campus. It was pretty good. The beginning was a little boring, but when the marching band came out it was really good. I've posted some pics below. Click here to hear the fight song.

Not too much going on. I was diagnosed with Mono this week. Not really sure where it came from, but it explains why I have been sleeping all the time and getting wore out so easily. I had a meeting with Andy, his lawyer and my lawyer last night. It went alright. We still don't have a settlement because we need to figure out what we are going to do with the house, since neither of us are living in it. All in all, life is okay. It could be a little better, but I can't complain too much because I am here and I am breathing. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving if I don't post again before then. The last pic below is my cousin Reid. He is in the drumline.

By the Way-GO Green! GO White!! Let's hope for a win against Penn State this weekend! Game time 3:30 p.m.

Pottery, Halloween & Christmas Tree Planting

So here are a few pics from this fall. I have pics of the girls from Halloween, finally some pics from painting pottery and last, but not least, we "planted" the tree for Silver Bells at the Capitol this past week.

For those who don't know about planting the tree here it is... We all get together and go hunting for pine cones in the dark woods. We then take all the pine cones we find and "plant" them in the manhole where the Christmas tree goes for Silver Bells. After we "plant" the tree we pour magic green water on the manhole to make it grow fast. The older kids know what is going on, of course, but the younger ones think it is pretty cool. Also, this is Bubby's first year participating, so that made it extra special. Enjoy the pics!

A Celebration of the Election

A great song and video about the beginning of a "new day" in American history! Just press the Play button and enjoy!