How delighted my brother and I were to have our Nana visit us for six months! It did not happen every year, but when it did, we were beaming with excitement. Why? She loved us. She cooked our favorite dinners. She played endless games with us and the list goes on.

Our prayer at mealtimes, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest. We thank thee for the food, thou hast prepared for us…”  (We actually never thought about the thee’s and thou’s, it was just our prayer).  When Nana arrived our prayer at mealtime was even more special. We all said our prayer together and then she alone would re-say the prayer in German. Komm’, Herr Jesus, sei unser Gast Und segne, was Du uns bescherret hast. Amen. Or some similar version of what was apparently a Lutheran prayer or Moravian or one from Luther’s Small Catechism. Its roots did not matter to us, we loved hearing another language. We loved the second blessing. We saw her faith. It was one of those times when a lesson was not needed; we were witnessing her displaying, not a recitative prayer (which they both were), but a tradition of thankfulness to her God. Her bowed head spoke volumes.

How blessed we were to have faith examples in front of us! Our grandmother’s German prayer was so simple, but so powerfully engrained in our memories as Nana and her unshakeable faith in God. Interesting how a prayer of thanksgiving showed us faith. No matter what language, what meal, or hour of the day, thankfulness for God’s unconditional love will strengthen your faith in His omnipotence.

Jill