A Thanksgiving Paraphrase 2017

1 In the beginning God created the Linda and the Steve.

2 And the heart of Steve was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of his heart.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of Steve’s loneliness.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was Linda.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Love, and the darkness he called all else but Linda. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 And God said, Let there be a wedding in the midst of the years, and let it divide the past from the future.

7 And God made the marriage, and divided the years which were before the wedding from the years which were after the wedding: and it was so.

8 And God called the marriage Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said let the years under the Heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Home; and the gathering together of the years He called Happiness, and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said let the Happiness bring forth Children, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the Happiness brought forth Liza, and joy, yielding seed after his kind, and the Happiness yet again brought forth Stephanie, yielding much love, whose seed was in itself, after its kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the Family to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the Family to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; One He named Till – Billy and Faye, and one He named Ortego – Lloyd and Myra. 

17 And God set them in the firmament of the Family to give light upon them.

18 And to teach wisdom and give blessing over them day and night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving inner beauty that hath life, and joy that may fly above the children, Liza and Stephanie, in the open firmament of Heaven.

21 And God created great strength of character in Liza and Stephanie, and every living creature that moveth were blessed by them.  Linda and Steve rejoiced abundantly, after their kind, and every blessing of God followed them after His kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let praise multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after His kind, young men, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after His kind: and it was so.

25 And from the young men God chose the Johnathan that He had made after his kind – Bush: John and Karen, and God chose the Jason after his kind – Roussell: Joe and Jeannette, giving unto them every blessing of honor, and strength, and fear of the Lord, finding favor with God, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make new Families in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over their own children, and over their own joy and blessings of life, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created Families Bush and Roussell in his own image, in the image of God created he them; Bush and Roussell created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the blessings of children, and joys of life, and over every living thing that moveth upon the Family.

29 And God said to the Families Bush and Roussell, behold, I have given you every joy of life, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every blessing, which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for Grandchildren!

30 And to every child of Bush, and to every child of Roussell, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every blessing of joy and life to Audrey, and Jack, and Riley, and Teddy so that they may bring forth abundantly the inner beauty that hath life, and strength of character and praise to God, and joy that may fly above the children in the open firmament of the marriages which God has called Heaven: and it was so.

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, to Linda and Steve He said, “Behold, is it not very good?”  And they replied on bended knee and heart and with voices raised in Thanksgiving and Praise that it was indeed so.  And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

32 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

33 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.  And on the seventh day and all the days of his life, Steve and Linda will praise and thank the Lord God for the fullness of all His blessings.  Amen.