Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful. A time to remember your family. To thank God for the roof over your head, for the food in your stomach (way too much food for me). And to remember all the good things in life. Things like faith, and love, and friendship, and joys, and some pains, but mostly the laughter and memories of a life well lived.
Here in Cambodia I have found myself feeling so entitled. I want food, so I get it. I want to sleep so I am annoyed when the construction starts promptly at 7am in the room next to my head. I don't want to walk so I get a tuk tuk. I am thirsty so I buy water. I want new clothes so I get them at the market. I need air conditioning. I need a shower. I usually want ice cream! Right now, I want a big and fat turkey with some pecan pie.
It is difficult for me to slow down and remember to be thankful for the things I have. Or even to realize the difference between what I want and what I need…
This thanksgiving I was able to spend some time with my team and a few friends we met along the way. We ate Lebanese food with a man from Cambodia, a man from Australia, a couple from Belgium and another from Austria. It wasn't like thanksgiving at home, but it was a good time to remember to be thankful for the moments people are in your life and the little time we get to spend with them. As we ate and shared our thankfulness with one another, I realized how much I am truly grateful for, and how very little I need.
The things that matter to me are maybe not as many things as I had thought, and maybe very different from what I've been thankful for before. Since my Cambodian thanksgiving, I am more thankful for my family. I love my family- I especially love how crazy, weird, large and dysfunctional yet perfect it is. The way there are so many people who I love so dearly all rolled into one large group of people I wish could be together all the time. I am thankful for internet and facetime, and the crazy opportunity to see the faces of the people I love halfway around the world (in 2 states!) I am thankful for friends; deep and lasting friendships that have carried through the years. Some since toddler age, others in the awkward mid-elementary stage, some in high school, some in college and some new friends I've made on the race. But these are deep friendships I know will last my lifetime.
I'm also thankful for things like the sweet children selling bracelets on the street who choose to stop and play with us because we give them something other than a brush-off. I'm thankful for people who remember how to be a kid. I'm 'thankful for our new friends who are willing to hang out with the strange Americans who only drink pop and don't stay out too late at the bars and put up with us inviting everyone we meet along the way. I'm thankful for real conversations and people willingly letting strangers into their lives. I'm thankful for smiles and hugs that translate across all language barriers. I'm thankful for sweet families who open up their homes and kitchens to bless others. I'm thankful for people who are making a difference within their own country and community.
I am thankful for the small explosions of goodness in the world that is so often overwhelmed by the corruption around it. In the quiet and simple consistency, there are those people who choose to live out a life of simple kindness to change the world one tiny act at a time. It's these small acts, when strung together into a lifetime, that leave a trail of incredible change behind. Don't underestimate the goodness you can do in a day- no matter who you are, how much you have or what you choose to do. You cannot save the whole world, but you can change one.
Thanksgiving isn't only about being thankful for things, which I am learning to be overwhelmed with thanksgiving in every moment of my day. Yet, there is so much more to the festivities. Being thankful for the small things and the lives around us causes us to catapult into impact of others and share the wonderful gifts we are so thankful for with those who dare to come close enough to get a taste. Thankfulness, to me, is looking into the face of another and knowing our lives have collided into something good- a small blessing can be as big as a sweet smile.
Today, I'm thankful for another day to leave behind small explosions of the goodness of life, one heart at a time.
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Update: My team has wrapped up our time in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and traveled onto Malaysia for debrief with our entire squad for a few days. We loved Cambodia, and I have no doubt at least one of my teammates will be back for long term missions and impact with the Khmer people. We made relationships with the people in our hostels and uncovered some incredible ministries who the World Race will be blessed to partner with in doing God's work in Cambodia. We made some new friends and memories we will remember for a lifetime. Cambodia will be missed!
