Last Thanksgiving I never imagined I would be spending this next Thanksgiving in Managua, Nicaragua. My first Thanksgiving away from home and God made it full of such fun surprises. Here is a recap of our Nica Thanksgiving….
I was thankful that the day started off with Allyson, Liz, and I making our very own Turkey Trot which was a perfect way to begin a day of feasting.
Then, I was thankful I was able to Google Hangout (aka Skype) with my family in Knoxville (including my visiting aunt and uncles), my brother in Afghanistan, and my sister in law in Memphis all at the same time! It was amazing and such a blessing to see and talk to them.
Nicaragua-Knoxville-Memphis-Afghanistan
After that I was thankful to spend time cooking with my teammates, playing uno, and hanging out with the women.
Their craft for the day was to write what they were thankful for on a leaf which was then pinned to create a colorful tree. I was thankful to see some women share what they are thankful for including one beautiful woman who choked up as she told us. I love these women and the joy they have because of the pain and darkness from which they've been redeemed.
I was thankful to serve the women and see them pile their plates high to then demolish the food and come back for more. I was thankful to prove that Americans can cook!
**The back story is that at the end of the day I found out from Kenia that the women had no faith that we could cook! When Kenia invited the women to eat Thanksgiving meal with us, they wanted to know who was going to cook the food. Well Kenia said us of course! They let her know that Americans don’t know how to cook….mhmmmm… Then when the meal came they said they would only have a little bit of each because they knew they wouldn’t like it…After heaping plates, seconds, and taking home the leftovers; they told Kenia that we were actually very good at cooking and the food was delicious! Booyah, we proved ourselves without even knowing we had to!
The feast included all of the staple Thanksgiving traditions including turkey, stuffing, homemade casseroles: green bean and sweet potato, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, stawberry and cranberry jello salad with crushed pineapple, cake, and brownies. As well as, pumpkin pie that our amazing host, Steven, found for us! Oh yes it was decadent.
After the women left we watched American football, had meaningful conversations, and drank coffee…I couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon with friends.
Finally, the day ended with Kenia, Liz, and I burning off the Thanksgiving food we ate with a weekly basketball game. Kenia gets together with some American women to play basketball. Never in my life would I have imagined that I would plan to go play basketball but I loved it!
Thankful to have spent such a meaningful day at a ministry I’m drawn to and women that I love. Beautiful time reflecting on the glorious redeemed life that Christ has given each of us. Praise the Lord for the beauty of His glory and the plans He has for us to prosper.
Cheers to decadent food, thankfulness, beautiful women, and proving people wrong,
Jen
