An Adams Family Blessing

Sometimes I lie awake in the early morning hours and fret. Sometimes those same hours fill my mind with streams of words that run ever faster until I have no choice but to open the flood gates and write them down. January fourth began with one of these mornings.

All but just a few members of our family, all three generations, would be gathering together that afternoon to eat, to visit, to make a few new memories, and to remember lots of old ones. My brother had stored the turkey in my freezer, and I had forgotten to leave the door unlocked for him to retrieve it at 5:30 a.m. so that it could be ready just in time for the get-together. When I had finally laid down my head at 1:30 that morning, I had been awake for all of the preceding 32 hours. Maybe that had a little something to do with my forgetting. Regardless, those four hours of sleep would be all I would get that night because despite the lack of rest and resulting fatigue, my mind began to whir after he left, and I began to be frustrated with the whole situation.

“Why did the turkey have to be in my freezer? Why didn’t he just keep it in his? Or in his fridge? Why did we have to have turkey at all? Why 5:30? That’s my freaking bedtime!” And on, and on. (I can be a bit grumpy when I’m sleep deprived.)

Then, however, I began to focus on all of the things I had to be grateful for, and out came the blessing I share here. I never sat at my mama and daddy’s table for a meal that the blessing wasn’t said, and it was always the same blessing. “Lord, pardon our sins and make us thankful for these and all our many blessings. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.” I can still hear the timbre of Daddy’s voice in my ears as he said it. It brings back sounds and smells and emotions from deep in the well of my most precious family memories. My father was a wise man, a man of thought and conviction. I like to think a fair portion of these words were a gift from him.

As we settle in to a new year and a new decade, I wish this blessing not only for my family but also for yours.

An Adams Family Blessing

Thank you for our hungry bellies.
May they remind us of all the bellies that are hungry more often than not,
and may that show us all of the ways we can serve others.
But please let our generosity start at home and extend to ourselves.

Thank you for our opportunity to wait on others and their timelines.
May it remind us how blessed we are for that wait to end and us to be able to see each other one more time.

Thank you for our tired and weary minds and our achy bones.
May they remind us of how privileged we are to be able to move from one place to another and use words to express our love.
Let us remember to nourish our minds and bodies with food and activity that show our gratitude for these abilities.

Thank you for the drive here, to this church.
May it serve to remind us of our freedoms, to remind us that we live in a country where we are free to worship as we please—or not—and to say prayers and whatever else openly without fear of government reprisal.
Let us not forget the sacrifices that have been made and that must continue to be made for such liberties.

Thank you for all of those who weren’t able to be here today.
May we remember how lucky we are to still be able to talk to them and take that opportunity frequently.

And last but not least, thank you for all of the ways we annoy one another.
May they remind us of all the ways we most certainly annoy others and help us to remember to use each day to do a little more a little better and to forgive others as easily as we hope they forgive us.
May our forgiveness start at home and extend to ourselves.

And as always…

“Lord, pardon our sins and make us thankful for these and all our many blessings. In Christ’s name we pray.
Amen.”

*****

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