Giving Thanks for Things About Which We Are Proud

Gracious God, thank you for opportunities to look back at our lives and reflect on the things about which we can feel proud. We’re grateful as we recall:

•  People who have seen qualities in us that make us proud. For being seen as fair by members of our family and people at work. For being seen as dependable and then invited to step out to fill leadership roles.
• Earning a college degree when that might not have been expected.
• Mentoring students who later let us know we made a difference in their lives.​

• Having children who have taken a hard road and made it; who have started a business; and who have bought a home.
• Having skills—such as being a really fast typist—that may seem silly but that other people notice.
• Being a single parent who was able to support my family.
• Owning my own home.
• Completing a graduate degree that made a change of careers possible.
• Watching our children and grandchildren become good people and lead good lives.
• Never being without a job from college until retirement and making transitions that enabled me to support my family.
• Spending years in youth ministry and watching youth grow and develop.
• Serving in leadership roles—from being the first female moderator of a congregation to coordinating a large regional mission team to having more hutzpah than expected.

For these and other things for which we feel proud, we give thanks. Amen.