This year my Thanksgiving looked quite a bit different than the regular American, and I’d like to share it with y’all!
In the morning, our hosts took our whole squad to the local creek and we all picked out gratefulness rocks. Our host Scarleth explained to us how in Joshua, the people of Israel took up stones out of the Jordan for symbolic purpose. When she was reading about this, God told her to do the same thing, take up a stone out of the river (creek) and use it to symbolize gratefulness. Then she said it is supposed to be placed under our pillow and at night every time we feel it before we go to bed, we are reminded to tell God everything we are grateful for. So we all did this together on Thanksgiving morning, we picked out a stone for ourselves, as well as two others, one for a person on each of the squads we were meeting later.
Afterwards, I went with a handful of people from my squad to a little town called Santa Lucia. We walked around like your typical tourists, took pictures, and had probably one of the most interesting Thanksgiving lunches I’ve ever had; pupusas and platinos maduro. If you’ve never had either or have no idea what I’m talking about, 10/10 recommend trying them. I got to FaceTime my parents and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving, which was such a blessing. I am “fasting” them this month, meaning no contact, which has proven to be a whole lot harder than I thought. But when I prayed and asked God if I could call them, I received a yes, and my parents were so happy. We then went to a little bakery after lunch and I tried something called “sweet bread” that curved my sweet craving for DAYS afterwards. Probably a 4/10 recommend.
After we got back from Santa Lucia, it was mid afternoon and we headed down to check in at the hotel we were staying at for the Awakening (blog coming about this next!). It was less than a 10 minute walk from our host home, so we got there pretty quickly, settled in, and started to get to know one of the squads that was there; K Squad in month 4. F Squad showed up later in the night, they’re in month 11. Yes, month 11. I know. Anyways, for our Thanksgiving dinner, we had chicken, green beans, and potato salad. Unfortunately, no pumpkin pie though. But it wasn’t about the food or the location. It was about the company and the family we found in the other squad. It felt like I was eating dinner with long time friends, cousins, sisters and brother-in-laws. I got to ask questions to racers who were a couple months ahead of me, pick their brains for knowledge and tips, and just fellowship and relate to them.
We ended the night with an incredible session of worship. Just being back in a setting like training camp and launch with so many racers coming together felt just a little bit like home. But the fact that it was happening in the middle of Honduras just made it so much better. Even though we weren’t physically home, we still had a spirit of family and belonging with us that night. It made my first big holiday out of the states feel a little more hopeful for the ones to come. They may not celebrate Thanksgiving here in Honduras, but it was definitely one I will never forget.
