Giving Thanks for the Best Days of Our Lives

Gracious God, thank you for the days, the moments, the seasons that stand out in our memories as the best times in our lives. Thanks for:

•  A long-ago summer of falling in love and a surprise trip planned by a spouse as an act love.
• Looking into the face of a grandchild and seeing the culmination of the happy things of a lifetime.
• Sharing a wedding day with parents as they renewed their vows on their 60th anniversary.
• College years that provided a blank slate and the freedom to be oneself.​

• The extraordinary support of family and friends after a surprise proposal and a laid-back island honeymoon filled with flowers and beach time.
• A childhood in the country with the freedom to spend all day outside and a second chance to be free and ponder life during retirement.
• A former student’s words of thanks for being there when he needed you the most.
• Being surrounded by family members on a cruise and being alone in the wilderness.
• Marrying the person with whom you would share life, including children, grandchildren, and retirement.
• Receiving news that a child was ready for you to adopt and watching an aging mother jump for joy when she learned her granddaughter would become a mother.
• Learning from an orchestra conductor to find beauty in whatever part you play.
• Having an excited granddaughter run and jump into your arms and a room of people stand to applaud your volunteer service.
• Being surrounded by people from different stages and parts of your life as you take a significant step along your journey.

 For these and all the other best times of our lives, we give thanks. Amen.