A Thanksgiving MadLib
When I was a kid my family drove everywhere for family trips or vacation. I can only recall flying to a destination a handful of times. But we made many trips around the Midwest in our little cars, with my sister and I usually fighting over the armrest in the backseat. And “back in my day” there were not smart phones to occupy the time. So we would read, talk, or play games. And every now and again we would end up with a book of MadLibs.
These little books contained fill-in-the-blank stories where one person prompts others for verbs, adjectives, names, locations to substitute for blanks in a story before reading aloud. The punchline is that the resulting story ends up being ridiculous, humorous, and nonsensical with the addition of the prompts.
Earlier this year one of my 90-Day Grow Plans involved reading and praying through Psalms. It became a really meaningful way of taking these texts and prayers of ancient Israel and using them as a guide to pray for my own personal circumstances. In some ways, turning the Psalms in into MadLibs of my own life. But rather than non-sensical and surreal comedy, these became earnest and personal prayers.
So, I have created for you a short MadLib for the Thanksgiving season based on Psalm 136. Psalm 136 is a call-and-response where each verse makes a statement about God or something the LORD has done, and then responds with the phrase “His Love endures forever”, so when you are finished you’ll have your own Psalm of Thanksgiving.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving
To Him who saved me (write a reminder of your salvation)
His love endures forever
To Him who brought me into (write whatever season you are in right now. Good, bad, abundant, scarce, healthy, sick, etc)
His love endures forever
To Him who (write a reminder about your kids, family, friends, or meaningful relationships in your life)
His love endures forever
To Him who created (write a time of experiencing the beauty of nature or creation)
His love endures forever
To him who provided (write a reminder of a time of financial provision)
His love endures forever
To Him who was faithful when (write a reminder of a difficult time in which God was faithful)
His love endures forever
To Him who was faithful when (write a reminder of a time of joy or gladness)
His love endures forever
To Him who brought (write the name of someone who significantly impacted your spiritual life) into my life.
His love endures forever
To Him who freed me from (write a habit, burden, sin, or relationship from your past that God has freed you from in the present).
His love endures forever
To Him who met me with (write a time when you encountered an act of kindness or generosity)
His love endures forever
To Him who created (write your favorite season. Hunting, football, sweatshirt planting, harvest, or weather)
His love endures forever
To Him whose grace is sufficient in all things
His love endures forever
John Day, Worship Pastor
