This Thanksgiving, I woke up early with my team to catch a 6:45 “chicken bus,” which is essentially an old school bus turned public transportation; these are common in Central America. As we boarded the crowded bus playing loud Spanish rap, I couldn’t help but joke with one of my teammates: “This is just like last year’s Thanksgiving!”
All sarcasm aside, this Thanksgiving was obviously very different from beginning to end. It was hard to be away from my family. But man, the Lord is so good and I was giving him thanks all day long for his grace. While it was different, this will be a Thanksgiving I will always remember.
My Thanksgiving looked like traveling with my team to meet up with not only my squad of 33 people (K squad), but also meeting with two other squads on the race: F squad and P squad. F squad was at the end of their journey in month 11, while P squad was in month 2. We met up in Valle De Ángeles (Valley of Angels) near the capital of Honduras for an Awakening, which is where multiple squads in the same area get together to worship, gain wisdom from each other, and edify the body of Christ in every possible way. It was an incredible weekend where I felt immensely filled up by the Lord.
One of the speakers that taught last weekend talked about how it is important to give thanks in everycircumstance. If we aren’t walking in thankfulness, anything can distract us from intimacy with the Lord. It prompted me to write down 10 things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, and I wanted to share it with you.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
-Psalm 100:4
I am thankful for…
- Extra feet room on a crowded bus
- A Thanksgiving dinner thousands of miles from home
- Warm showers and comfortable beds at the hostel
- The ability to explore and meet people in Valle De Ángeles
- Seeing a little bit of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on a TV at a coffee shop
- Being able to Facetime my family
- Caring squad-mates who gave us all handwritten notes “from our parents”
- Honduran mountains & cool weather
- Intimate worship with brothers and sisters in Christ
- The ability to grow closer to the Lord on this crazy adventure called the World Race!!!
As I began this list, I found myself go on and on about what I am thankful for this month. So, here ya go. Just giving thanks to my father!
- Melissa and Sergio, our hosts, and their seven children
- Denis, Isa, Thiago, and Daven (the missionary family we live with)
- Nancy and Nicole (two other missionaries we live with)
- A roof over my head
- Baleadas (a typical Honduran dish of two flour tortillas, refried beans, eggs, and cheese)
- Oneida-the base’s lunchtime cook and maid-who told me that she is my stand-in mother when I told her I missed my family
- Meeting Hannah Esposito (the daughter of our hosts last month) and the Lord allowing her to come to the Awakening with us!
- Denis’ brother in law that offered to drive us for part of our journey to the Awakening. He did it out of the kindness of his heart because we were his brothers and sisters in Christ.
- New and old friends
- My family
- The Lord pursuing my anxious heart
- Prayers for me on this journey-they are so immensely felt!
- Christ’s people all over the world and the beautiful image bearers they are
- All of the donors that made it possible for me to go on this race. Thank you for allowing the Lord to use me as a vessel!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! While it is a great day to remember what I am thankful for, I have been challenging myself to live in gratitude more often. I have noticed it has changed my perspective. I challenge you to write down 5 things you are thankful for every day!
This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by John Piper:
God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of 3 of them.
Don’t underestimate what the Lord is doing in your life. He is working for the good of those who love him, and we are called to give thanks in all circumstances. Even in the midst of trials, there are still things to be grateful for. I obviously don’t have this all figured out, but I am trying to see all that the Lord is doing so I can praise him for it. The Lord has really been working with me on that. I want to be more aware of what he is doing.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever.
-Psalm 136:1-3
