Six Cubes of Thanks

This is a glass of juice with six ice cubes in it. Allow me to explain . . .

In the summer of 2006 my wife, Carrie, was engulfed with adoption paperwork and fundraising preparation. She had taken on a part-time job to help raise funds for the adoption paperwork, she was always working in the basement and the garage to get ready for the next garage sale, and she was filling out mountains of paperwork. All this she did in addition to managing our household, homeschooling three children, and serving the church and community in various respects.

I, of course, was not just sitting on the couch. I'm a pastor and that is a time-consuming job, but Carrie had taken on a lot. I could sense her stress and together with the children at morning prayers around the breakfast table there was always a little uncertainty about the task our family had taken on. Each morning we prayed something like, "Lord, if it be your will, help us to adopt a baby brother. Enormous effort--physical, emotional, spiritual--was being expended in the work to adopt a little brother, and we were not sure it would even happen.

I was frustrated and my wife was stressed, and so I began--late in the summer of 2006--to have my morning juice with six ice cubes . . . and a prayer. As each cube clinked in the glass I prayed some derivation of, "Lord, thank you for the family you have given me. Have mercy on us, and make us a family of six."

So, this morning I continued the routine that began late in the summer of 2006, but now I say, "Lord, thank you for making us six. Thank you for my family."

Today I am also thankful for the opportunity to take part in the government of my city, state and nation by casting my ballot, and I am thankful that the young children the Lord has given us to parent will have the opportunity to witness this and thus be encouraged take up the responsibilities of citizenship themselves.

And I am thankful, to the core of my being, for the new little U.S. citizen who is with us.

For the nation:

Almighty God, You have given us this good land as our heritage. Grant that we remember your generosity and constantly do Your will. Bless our land with honest industry, truthful education, and an honorable way of life. Save s from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil course of action. Grant tht we, who came from many nations with many different languages, may become a united people. Support us in defending our liberties, and give those to whom we have entrusted the authority of government the spirit of wisdom, that there may be justice and peace in our land. When times are prosperous, may our hearts be thankful, and in troubled times do not let our trust in You fail; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. --Prayer 224 from Lutheran Service Book (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006)