By the Grace of God…

As many households do, we said grace in ours while I was growing up.  I’d like to think it’s not just a Southern tradition.  In fact, I’m sure it’s not.  Too many families have lost the love of sitting around the dining room table for their evening meal.  Whether you call it dinner or supper, it’s not just about the food.  It’s also about the quality time spent with your family, and the time you take to catch up with each other at the end of your day.

As children, I believe it is probably easier to eat at the dinner table.  Therefore, families that have young children, may tend to eat more around the table.  At least, that is what I am presuming (no children of my own yet).  It’s at this age that we, as children, are very impressionable.  We learn a lot around the dinner table.  Listening, bonding, growing each night in our own ways.  We learn how to clean our plate, how to eat (or hide) our vegetables, and how to feed the dog the unwanted scraps. 

The most valuable thing I ever learned at the dinner table (minus the using of the eating utensils, and that my mother is a fantastic cook), is our grace.  Our grace was located on the wall above the dinner table.  It was cross-stitched by Mom in 1981.  I remember reading it word for word from the picture, knowing it was made with love.  I read it word for word every supper until I knew it by heart.  I haven’t forgotten it to this day, and occasionally will say it when we are seated around the dinner table at Mom’s or Maw-Maw’s.

Mom probably didn’t know it at the time, but I appreciated it.  I still appreciate it.  I appreciate the beauty in the color combinations, the patience she needed to do it, and I appreciated the love of God she had and still has that compelled her to always have a reminder of His love hanging above our table.

It was by the grace of God that I was blessed which such a wonderful mother.  A mother I know I can always count on.  A mother that loves me unconditionally.  A mother that is as beautiful as the most illustrious sunset.  A mother that has blessed my life, as I know I have been a blessing in hers (she tells me all the time).  A mother that loves God and shows it in her everyday living. 

A mother I am proud to call my shopping buddy, my best friend, my confidant, my hero, my own.  And, it is  this reason that I give thanks to him daily for my Mom and all of my blessings in life.

Dear Mom,

Thank you for this Grace that I will carry with me in my heart and soul always.  I will hang it when I have children so that they too will know the love of God, and the importance of thanking him daily.

Love, SP

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