Speak Grace

We call it "the blessing," some call it "saying grace." Whatever it's called, it's the moment before the meal when heads are bowed, eyes closed, and God is thanked for the food. Dad and Mom always made us hold hands so I grew up thinking everyone did. Dad joked it was to keep little hands out of the food but after raising three boys, I don't think it was such a joke!

God's Table of Bounty is plentiful in our lives if only we take notice. We allow our blessings to breeze by us as quickly as the hours in the day, often giving little thought to what they are and from where they come. How many times have you sang these words -- praise God from whom all blessings flow. Can you recite them with thoughtlessly, eyes closed, half asleep? The Psalmist asks in 103:5: "who satisfieth thy desire with good things?" James answers that question in 1:17, "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father ..." God's best gift of grace came to us in the form of His Son, and when we "say grace," we verbally acknowledge His many gifts. Our blessings cannot always be held in the hand or seen with the eye; many are felt with heart and best known by a common bond in spirit and truth. Take a moment today to pause at the gifts -- acknowledge them then ... speak grace.