Thanksgiving Prayer, 2017 (Rev. Carmen Retzlaff)

Thanksgiving Prayer at New Life (2017)

God, we are grateful. 
God, keep us grateful. 

We give you thanks this morning
for every morning that our eyes open to your creation. 

We give you thanks this morning for children, 
and the wonder of seeing
their wonder of your creation. 

We give you thanks for seeing children run and smile. 
For seeing them notice butterflies and
being soothed by swaying grasses in the field. 

We give you thanks for their garden tending
and hide-out finding in the woods. 

We give you thanks for their tending of our souls, 
their growing of our community. 

All of us growing in you. 

Amen.

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Photo credit: Julie Heth, children in the woods at the outdoor church of New Life Lutheran in the Hill Country of Texas. 

Rev. Carmen Retzlaff is pastor at New Life Lutheran Church in Dripping Springs, TX. Her congregation worships outdoors year-round and loves it. See more of Carmen's great writings on AllCreation.org here.