Aunt Nancy understood the power of prayer. It was a regular spiritual practice for her. I think she must have logged countless hours of prayer requests for others, not to mention her own needs for healing prayer.<\/p>\n
She and her husband, Uncle Pete, were some of my parents\u2019 oldest friends. Not an aunt by blood, she was a relative through her care and affection for my family. The last time I saw her she was in a wheelchair but her hope for some medical miracle was always present.<\/p>\n
Maybe there were other miracles in her life. Back in the summer when we were putting the November issue of Guideposts<\/em> together, thinking about thankfulness and Thanksgiving a good four months before it appears on the calendar, I remembered the gift Aunt Nancy and Uncle Pete gave my family years ago: a subscription to Guideposts<\/em>.<\/p>\n I wrote a little article about it for the magazine and was pleased to have it published because Aunt Nancy and Uncle Pete\u2019s gift explains why I am where I am and why I have the job I do. I loved reading that little magazine that appeared at our house month after month, and remembered it well when I applied for my job. I could even retell stories that I\u2019d read as a child. Still can. <\/p>\n I put it all down in a long-overdue thanks. Some say it\u2019s never too late to say thanks, but this one was a long time coming. Even before the November issue was printed I sent a copy of the article to Mom to give to Aunt Nancy and Uncle Pete. \u201cTell them thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n Then last Wednesday Mom called to tell me that Aunt Nancy died. She\u2019d suffered for such a long time I\u2019m sure I shouldn\u2019t have been surprised. But as a friend of mine reminds me, even when a death is expected, even when it might seem a release, it still takes you back. \u201cPoor Uncle Pete,\u201d I said to Mom.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been a saint,\u201d she said. They\u2019re both saints. I\u2019m glad I had the chance to tell them thanks. <\/p>\n Happy Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Aunt Nancy understood the power of prayer. It was a regular spiritual practice for her. I think she must have logged countless hours of prayer requests for others, not to mention her own needs for healing prayer. She and her husband, Uncle Pete, were some of my parents\u2019 oldest friends. Not an aunt by blood, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":30605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[279],"tags":[58,30,81],"ppma_author":[476],"class_list":["post-23931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holiday-prayers","tag-guideposts","tag-prayer","tag-thanksgiving"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n