Part of the wonder of Thanksgiving and Christmas comes with the sights, sounds, and smells of the season that carry a certain nostalgia, allowing us to relive the magical moments of our favorite holiday memories: waking up to a blanket of freshly fallen snow ... receiving the answer to a secret prayer whispered only to God the Father ... a family game of football to work off that turkey dinner ... baking homemade cookies with Grandma ... driving through neighborhoods in search of the brightest Christmas lights ... midnight Mass ... singing Christmas carols at the nursing home ...

One of my favorite holiday memories was the year my family went on a hayride after Thanksgiving dinner. What is your favorite holiday memory? Take a few moments and relive the magic:

• What is Your Favorite Thanksgiving Memory?
• What is Your Favorite Christmas Memory?

_{Image: © Mary Fairchild}

This week's Thanksgiving prayer is We Give Thanks, by Harry Jewell.

Do you have an original Thanksgiving prayer that would encourage or benefit a fellow believer? Perhaps you've written a unique poem you'd like to share with others. We are looking for Christian prayers and poems to encourage our readers in their communication with God. To submit your original prayer or poem, please fill out this Prayer / Poem Submission Form.

We Give Thanks

Our Father in Heaven,
We give thanks for the pleasure
Of gathering together for this occasion.
We give thanks for this food
Prepared by loving hands.
We give thanks for life,
The freedom to enjoy it all
And all other blessings...
Read more of ... We Give Thanks by Harry Jewell.

More Thanksgiving Prayers:

• Giving Thanks and Saying Grace
• Mealtime Blessings
• All About Thanksgiving Prayers - With Tips for Writing Your Own Prayer

I've been through seasons in my life when everything seemed to go wrong. Shortly after completing my schooling, I was forced to change my career path because I could not stand upright for more than five minutes without excruciating pain. I discovered that I had been born with a fracture in my low back that only began to present itself in my early twenties. For many years I lived with debilitating pain. I know what it means to suffer without relief. You probably do, too. As Christians, we experience suffering, we wrestle with pain, we know the heartache of loss. At some point in our walk with the Lord, we probably all ask the question, "Why me, God?"

In this meditation, Jack Zavada of Inspiration-for-Singles.com points out the trouble with saying "Why me?" This line of thinking inevitably focuses our attention away from the solution and fixes our eyes on something likely to complicate the problem ... me. Resolution comes when we keep our eyes on Jesus.

• Read Devotional: "Why Me?"

_{Photo: Photodisc / Getty Images}

Before surrendering to the Lord, Jesus Christ, Brooke lived as a lesbian. Her life was filled with violence, nude dancing, drugs, sex and booze. She moved to Hollywood with a dream of becoming rich and famous, but God had other plans for her and a new dream to fulfill. Today, Brooke shares her dramatic story of deliverance from darkness with women who are hurting and in need of forgiveness.

Delivered from Darkness is a true story, one of our many uniquely featured testimonies from you, the members and visitors of this site. Each story reveals a life transformed by Christian faith. If your relationship with God has made a significant difference in your life, we would like to hear about it. Submit your testimony by filling out this Submission Form. To receive weekly messages of hope and encouragement from real-life stories of changed lives, sign up for eTestimonies.

• Read: Delivered from Darkness
• Show & Tell: Your Salvation Story