Happy late Thanksgiving from Africa! That is so weird to say. I never thought I’d be spending Thanksgiving in another country, let alone in a country in Africa! But I absolutely loved it! Two of the girls on the other team we’re working with, Team Mor3, cooked dinner for us. It was your traditional Thanksgiving dinner of deviled eggs, vegetable medley, rice, mashed potatoes, and baked beans, and your traditional Thanksgiving desserts of pineapple cake and peanut butter fudge. Ok, so it wasn’t so traditional. But hey, it’s Thanksgiving in Africa. What do you expect? Regardless, the meal was delicious. And it was great fellowship. We shared what we were thankful for, had a celebratory toast with our cold cokes, sang songs of praise to our God, and had communion to celebrate the greatest thing we should be thankful for: our salvation. It was an amazing experience, and I enjoyed every second of it.
Don’t get me wrong. I did miss spending Thanksgiving with my family and friends (perhaps a late night Thanksgiving snack at Waffle House) and all of the traditions that go along with that. But I loved the simplicity of Thanksgiving in Africa and how that allowed me to be at the true meaning of Thanksgiving: being thankful. I feel like in America, it can be so commercialized that we can easily forget that. Being in Africa where life is so simple, and I was just with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I was able to think about how much I have to be thankful for in my life.
God has done so much in my life over the past months. I’m thankful to be on the World Race where I’ve gotten to experience God in so many ways. I’m thankful for my family and friends back home who have supported me during my trip. Your support through donations, blog comments, emails, etc. have truly blessed me. I’m thankful for the new brothers and sisters I’ve gained on the race. They’ve all loved me and supported me in awesome ways. I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to share Christ with people, loving them and serving them. I never thought I’d be used by God to reach people in the villages of Africa; how awesome is our God! I’m thankful for the new friends I’ve made in each country. It’s been awesome to see how my Jesus is the same Jesus that is worshipped all around the world. I’m thankful for the trials I’ve faced and the lessons I’ve learned. I am stronger in Christ than I was five months ago, and I’m so excited to see where God will bring me by the end of the race. Most of all, I’m thankful that I have a relationship with Christ because of His love that He showed through His sacrificial death and His resurrection. Christ is the only reason I can be thankful for anything.
So I hope you, too, had an awesome Thanksgiving. I know I did. If you haven’t taken the time to think about what you’re thankful for, I encourage you to think about it. We all have so much to be thankful for in our lives.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
