After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, "So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others." - Luke 1:21-25
Zechariah and Elizabeth go home. We're not told where that is but later, when Mary visits their home, we learnt hat it was "a town of Judah" (the same part of the land as Jerusalem) in the "hill country."
Elizabeth soon learns that she is pregnant, as the angel had promised, and she expresses her joy at what God has done for her. (Mary will do the same in her Magnificat.)
Prayers of thanksgiving are the easiest to say. Every day, even on bad days, we come across all sorts of things that can remind us of God's goodness - trees, little children, warm water in the shower, the sound of birds, a good burger, the sun, moon, stars, a kindness someone does for us.
If we keep our eyes open for them, we can catch lots of things we never really noticed as "gifts" before - things that deserve a simple word of thanks to God.
If you haven't done it often enough this week, right now might be a good time for a prayer of thanksgiving to God.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw