This is my second consecutive Thanksgiving away from America. When I was sitting in Thailand last year I had no clue that this year I would be in Peru. Ha. Same mission, but stepping into an entirely different season and with a set of new faces. And honestly can’t believe how much has changed in a year but gosh filled with so much gratitude.
Health– I have seen so much in my missions travels that have made me so grateful for my health. With all the traveling I have done this past year my health has stayed relatively well…. We won’t talk about the stomach issues but it could be so much worse. What my eyes have seen around the world puts so much into perspective. Good health is truly one of the greatest gifts.
Home– Home has largely been what I’ve had to create for myself over the last year and it’s been defined differently month by month as I’ve gone from country to country. I’ve seen what home has meant for others in so many different countries. I think about the home I was able to go back to for a month before I came back on the field and the home I get to go back to for Christmas this year. The comfort it brings me. The love I feel instantly when I step into the door. God, thank you for the homes I’ve been able to step into over the course of the year. People that have been so proud to let me in, structures that are held together with straw, metal, or bricks and floors made of dirt. Thank you for opening my eyes to what home means for others and filling me with gratitude for my own. Thank you for perspective and that home is truly what fills the space and not what it’s made out of.
Family– SO MUCH LOVE FOR MY FAMILY. I miss them every day I’m out on the field. But feel them every single minute of every single day. The love and support from my family back home is overwhelming and I feel so undeserving of the amazing family I have been blessed with and can’t wait to hug them and be with them this Christmas. Being away from them over the past year and right now as I’m on the field a second time, I had the family of my own squad while I was on my race and I had to embrace that and when I did, it was the gift I didn’t even realize I needed this season of my life as I answered the calling. And now I have the gift of my team I have the honor of leading for a short season and another squad I get to be with and I am so grateful to have a second go around at this and walk this journey with them.
Friends– I truly have some of the most amazing friends and community in the world. I am in a season of my life where I am not lacking in love and support in the way of friendships, deeply meaningful friendships and it’s something I prayed so long for. People who are so invested in the work the Lord is doing in my life right now and have come along side me and who I couldn’t imagine doing life without. Another of life’s greatest gifts is to be fully known, valued, and loved and to give that back in return. Aren’t friends the greatest?!?!
Food– I LOVE FOOD almost as much as I love my family haha!! I have experienced foods all across the world, and not many people get to do that. But let’s be honest, not all of it was my cup of tea. It’s been eye opening to see what satisfies and what others are grateful for when the options are not as plentiful as in the United States and how hard people work to provide meals to put on the table. The nutrition and sanitary ways we are offered that are lacking in so many countries. I am just plain grateful. AND HALLELUJAH FOR CHICK-FIL-A!!
This Thanksgiving my heart truly overflows with gratitude at the abundance of all that I have been blessed with in the way of experiences and material things. For perspective and knowing how other parts of the world live and being able to experience it. Knowing that it’s not wrong to have what I do have and to be blessed but just to be put in a position to count my blessings one by one.
Happy Thanksgiving friends and family in America!! May it be a special one full of gratitude as you look around the dinner table. You will see your cup truly does overflow.
