My time here in Macedonia has been quite an experience.
We arrived in Skopje about two weeks ago, and these two weeks have been full of different kinds of emotions.
Here in Skopje, the Autumn season is at its peak. Everywhere you look there are orange, brown, and red leaves falling from trees. The air is cold and crisp and everyone is dressed in their finest fall attire.
Fall is my favorite season back home. In Texas, it doesn’t get very cold, and truthfully we don’t have much of a fall. We may get a few falling leaves here and there, but that’s nothing compared to what I have gotten the pleasure of seeing here. This is by far the most beautiful Autumn I’ve ever seen.
I love the month of November because the air is cool and everyone is getting in the holiday spirit. It’s a magical time of year filled with fun family traditions and memories of past holiday cheer.
When I see falling leaves, I think of raking up the hundreds of leaves that fell from our large tree in our front yard with my dad and sister. I remember one particular day, when I was younger, that I buried my sister, Annette, in a big pile of leaves and laughed and she struggled to get out.
When I feel the brisk autumn air, I think of strolling through the city with friends and coming home to the sweet aroma of pumpkin bread that my mom bakes so perfectly each time.
I think of night Pumpkin Spice Latte runs that I make with my dad when the family wants something warm and sweet to drink as we watch a movie by the fire.
Needless to say, homesickness has creeped up on me this month, and not a day passes that I don’t think of the amazing memories I have with friends and family during this season.
So on this day, Thanksgiving, I won’t be sitting around a full table filled with Turkey, mashed potatoes, corn and stuffing laughing with family and having conversations of why we are thankful this year. Instead, I have already served in a soup kitchen and helped feed kids who live in a Roma/gypsy community outside of Skopje.
My teammates and I planned a beautiful thanksgiving meal that we would cook and have some of our favorite traditional foods. This morning, we began to prepare our meal that we would have this evening, when the power suddenly shut off. This timely power outage is not uncommon in the village we are staying in, but we had not prepared for the possibly of there being no oven or stove to cook our meal on.
We were all a little heartbroken to know we would not be spending the day as we hoped, but that feeling of sadness quickly faded as we remembered why we here and Who we were here to serve.
With a thankful heart, I will not be eating a turkey around a big table with family and friends, but I will be spending this day thanking The One who gave it all so I could be here, in Macedonia, loving on and serving people.
That is something to be truly thankful for.
