For years and years I prayed before every meal something that my parents taught me. “Dear God, thank you for this day, thank your this food and thank you for everything. Amen”

Somewhere around 18 I ventured off and started to pray “original” prayers. My words flowed from the moment and usually were still focused on that one word, “thanks.”

Also somewhere in this time my dad began to use a phrase in his prayers before the meal at large family gathering. He would say something like “Lord we thank you for these blessings you provide which we often overlook and are too often taken for granted.”

I don’t know whether he heard this from someone and added it to his prayers or whether he just stated saying it and it stuck. Somehow it made it into his words and I have had the opportunity to hear him say it dozens of times over the last few years.

This is in my thoughts as I set at my computer this morning for a couple of reasons. First, I am amazed at the number of articles, blogs and posts that are already talking about Christmas. Second, I am more amazed at the lack of any discussion of Thanksgiving.

Maybe there was a simple natural progression in my dad’s thinking. He was thankful for all that we had been given as a family but as time went on he saw how we overlooked the Lord’s blessings. It is easy to do as an individual or as a family or as a country.

So today I wonder what would happen if we spent a month being thankful to God for all of his blessings before rushing into another season of want?