Every day we should give thanks to God for all of the blessings in our lives. As many of you know, we Americans have one special day each year that we celebrate our blessings more than any other day. It is called Thanksgiving Day. To express my feelings during this November 28, 2013, holiday, I plan to share my prayer with my family. However, I also consider many of you who read my blogs as close friends and even my adopted family so I will share it with you as well.
Dear Almighty God above, please listen to my prayer of thanks. 
I am thankful for so many wonderful things and blessings in my life.
First, I am thankful for my loving husband Bill who has been in my life for so many years and who has always supported me even when my ideas seem crazy and impossible. I love him so much, and he makes me so happy. I feel blessed that you, my Holy Father, sent him to me.
Secondly, I am thankful that I was able to raise a great son William Markus (Mark) who makes his father and me so proud of his accomplishments. He grew up to be a fine young man and married a lovely girl named Susanne.
I am happy and thankful to share my life with our sweet Saint Bernard Anna Belle. She has brought so much joy in my life with her sweet personality. I could sit and watch her for hours. When I go downstairs in the morning, she always greets me with a happy wagging of her long tail and a big puppy hug. She makes me smile each and every day. 
I am blessed to have my sister Shelley. We do not live close, but I know she is there if I need her. She is just a phone call away.
Thank you for the many friends with whom I share my life. They are there for me when I am happy, when I am sad, when I have good news and when I have upsetting news. They do not judge me but accept me for who I am which is amazing because I can often be a very complicated woman.
I am thankful for my good health. I am not young any more, but most of the time I feel as if I am still a young girl. I thank you for the energy you have given me to strive for all of my dreams and goals. I always seem to need more than the average person, and you have provided me with this needed strength.
I am happy that I have eyes to see the beautiful world around me—a splendid clear blue sky, a magnificent sunset, a magical dogwood tree in full bloom in the springtime, and the ocean waves as they rush against the shore. 
I love to use my ears to listen to incredible melodies and wonderful singing voices, the laughter of my family and friends, the sound of church bells on a Sunday morning, and the distant sound of a train as it hurriedly moves down its track.
The smell of freshly baked cookies, the fragrance of a dozen red roses in a vase, the scent of the fresh air after a spring shower, and a great steak grilling on the barbecue—all of these and more make me so grateful for my sense of smell.
Life is so much better because I can touch the hand of someone I love, pat the soft fur on my sweet dog’s head, enjoy a tender kiss on my lips, and feel the powdery white sand of the beach on my feet and legs.
I am grateful that I can taste the sweetness of an orange, savor the vegetables and sauce on my oven baked pizza, and sit at night and enjoy a delectable bowl of frozen praline pecan yogurt. 
The use of my five senses is something I sometimes take for granted, so today I thank you, God, for making mine perfect and allowing me the privilege to enjoy the wonderful world you have created for us.
I thank you for my ability to think, to be creative, to write and share my words now, and to teach and to inspire others in what small ways I am able to do.
I am thankful that I now have two schools in Egypt and will be able to teach young children English soon at one of them.
I am thankful that I have traveled all over the world because it has made me open minded and appreciative of other people in other cultures. I am now able to embrace them with so much more understanding and love.
Thank you, God, for giving me powers to overcome my disappointments and my times of sadness. You have made me stronger than I could ever imagine. When I think I cannot go on, you come to me in my dreams and remind me that I can overcome anything if I work hard, that I can achieve anything if I believe, and that I will be fine as long as I trust in you and allow you to guide my life.
Thank you for making it possible for me to have had an awesome career as a teacher and now as a writer for so many years. I live in a lovely home and have been able to surround myself with material things that make me happy. I am not rich, but my lifestyle is comfortable and very satisfying. 
Finally and most important of all the gifts you have bestowed upon me, thank you for teaching me the meaning of love and showing me how to love purely and sincerely. Without the ability to love, I would be nothing.
So on this very special day, I want to express how happy I am to be alive and how grateful I am for all of my many blessings in life. God, please help me to remember this each and every day of the year because every day should be a day to be thankful.
Randi D. Ward
November 26, 2013
