A Prayer in a Restaurant

One evening the Clark family took the children to a restaurant in town for a meal, and as usual the two daughters always argue about who was going to lead the prayer. Both Deanna and Karen were pleasant girls and well educated, and so this time they agreed on Deanna as she folded her tiny fingers and bowed her blonde head in prayer ‘Dear God we thank you for everything you gave us, for the food you provided for us, and for those who cooked it today. But I want to thank you especially today if my mother buys ice-cream for all of us too. And I pray that there will always be peace and justice in the world. Amen.’ Some neighboring customers were impressed by the sincerity of Deanna’s prayer, but an elderly grumpy lady sitting by herself was heard complaining ‘no wonder there are so many problems today in our world. Is that a way to pray? What are these parents teaching our children today? You ask God for ice-cream? What a shame!’ Deanna’s mother told her ‘That was a beautiful prayer – don’t worry about what that lady said.’ Karen hugged her sister as did her mother Colleen. Her dad Jim whispered in her ears ‘It’s shame that lady never prayed to God. You should know that a little ice-cream is often good for the body and the soul!’ Obviously when they finished dinner Jim and Colleen bought a mountain of ice-cream for them all. Little Deanna then surprised everyone, by taking her cup of ice-cream, complete with colored sprinkles and nuts, and walked towards Mrs Grumpy, and placed the ice-cream in front of her, as she said to her ‘This is for you. A little ice-cream is sometimes good for the body and the soul. And mine are both already pretty strong.’