GRATITUDE HOUR

As I sat in my car that day, I heard it—the familiar sound of bells ringing. I was parked on Church Street in downtown Roanoke, waiting to meet friends for lunch. It was 12 o’clock.

I smiled as memories came flooding back. As a child, I would hear my mom say a prayer every time the city bells rang, signaling that it was noon. Well, it wasn’t here in Roanoke. It was in Kumasi, Ghana, where I grew up, and we had a giant city bell, too, believe it or not. It rang every day at 12 o’clock.

No matter where we were in our city or what we were doing, she taught me that noon was a special moment to pause and thank God for the gift of life and everything we had. That’s not to say you can only thank God at noon. You can indeed thank God anytime you want.

Now, here I am as an adult, living far away from home, but I still remember my mother's words about gratitude and faithfulness at noon each day.

Not too long ago, I intentionally returned to downtown Roanoke right before noon to make sure I heard the bells ringing at 12 o'clock. As I stood on the corner of that street, patiently waiting to listen to that familiar sound again, I couldn’t help but thank God for my rich foundation in God through my mom.

Every noon, it’s like an automatic switch turns on for me to stop whatever I’m doing to take a few minutes to bow my heart in prayer before resuming the rest of my day’s activities. 

Would you join me? Think back to yourself—what’s your favorite time of day to pause and reflect? Imagine sharing that moment with your child, teaching them to stop and thank God.