Here’s to Thanksgiving in my new home away from home.
Our squad mentor Kacie sent us an email about what Thanksgiving might look like with us being on the field and what a blessing it can be with some perspective. Here are some of the great things she had to share:
“You have the opportunity to celebrate the holidays for what they actually are. You get to just be thankful this week instead of being immersed in a ridiculous amount of food that could probably feed multiple families in foreign countries. You get to sit around a table, or on a dusty floor or on your sleeping pads and share why you are thankful and share what Jesus has done for you in your life…You get to skip out on Black Friday shopping and tell someone about a Jesus who gave the greatest gift of all and how they don’t have to fight crowds to get it…Thankfulness and gratitude is literally the act of remembering all that Jesus has done in our lives.”
– I’m thankful that my sole responsibility right now is to wake up every morning and share Jesus with the world. It’s the kind of thing that you can’t really make complicated. It’s the kind of thing that can’t be filled with dread because I know that this is absolutely the best possible thing that I could be doing.
– I’m thankful that I have the privilege to live with such awesome people who are always loving, always encouraging, always funny, and always sassy. People who make me so at peace to be where I am, but also who reflect all of those who I miss at home. It’s like the Starburst commercial: a juicy contradiction. Yes, I miss family and friends and all my sweet little fur babies at home something terrible, but I wouldn’t trade being at home for any of this, even if just for a day.
– I’m so beyond grateful for each and every one of my supporters who have made all this possible. I’m so thankful that the Lord selected each one of you, from the people I know personally, to the strangers that I have never met. Your generosity means the world to me and because of you all I am able to do all of this and share Jesus with the world.
– I’m thankful for the Lord showing love to me in the simple things here like the vibrancy of the colors and flowers and the contagious warmth of the Chileans. Despite the language barrier and obvious differences in physical appearance, it doesn’t stop people from simply saying hello and asking ‘como estas?’. I’m thankful for expectations being knocked down and out by reality. I’m thankful for mountain top sunrises and endless laughs with my team. I’m thankful for sun-kissed skin and sitting around a big table at every meal with our host family. I’m thankful for warm days and chilly nights. I’m thankful for eating too much Dulce de Leches spread on my bread and trying new foods. I’m thankful to be exactly where the Lord has me.
