Today is one of those days when the distance feels a little farther. I miss my family and Austin a little more. The time goes a little slower. And the threat of tears is a lot stronger.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. And like anyone else, I want nothing more than to be surrounded by my family enjoying all my favorites of mom’s cooking. After spending the last 2 Christmas and New Year’s in Mexico on mission trips with my family, I would think it would get easier being away from home this time of year. But it is not. This is the first major holiday I have ever spent away from my family. Because even when we were out of the country for Christmas, we were still all together. It feels weird. I guess this is another one of those downsides to growing up that they so often forget to tell you about.
While my heart is a little heavier, I am reminded even more about how many blessings overflow in my life. I know that Thanksgiving comes around every year. And with the way time keeps speeding up, it’ll be back around again before I know it. So I want to soak up the one I am privileged to spend in Thailand (how many people get to say that haha). I doubt this
opportunity will be back as quickly. I know that on past Thanksgivings, I barely took the time to truly appreciate how good God is. Sometimes, when we have to go without something, we can appreciate it more.
In just a few weeks, I’ll be home for Christmas with all mom’s amazing food! While I will thoroughly value that time with all of them, I am sure I will be missing the kids and people here. And most certainly complaining about the cold! There is always something to complain about, things are never 100% ideal all the time. Yet, the same must also be true about things to be thankful for. I am learning to focus on putting my energy into finding the positives rather than the negatives.
So today, I am thankful for how God has led me this past year. How blessed I have been here. I am thankful to be surrounded by people that feel like family, certainly the next best thing when being apart from mine. I am thankful Nehemiah and Ethan are here to visit and spend the holiday with us. I am thankful for each one of these kids and the impact they’ve made on my life. I am thankful for FaceTime and the way it lessens the distance. I am thankful for the laughs, the “I love you’s”, the hugs, and all the joys that brighten my days.
At the beginning of November, I had the idea to do a thanksgiving challenge in my journal this month. As a way to be more intentionally grateful for the things I so easily take for granted. So each day, I write down 10 things I am thankful for. The catch is there cannot be any repeats during the month. So while I have missed a couple of days here and there, it is crazy to see how many things fill up my pages and how little time I ever take to be grateful for most of them.
Austin and I also decided to change up our prayer time this week. Instead of going through our list of things asking God to work in various areas in our lives, we decided to take the whole time and just thank Him for how He’s worked, and for how He’s going to work in the areas we are petitioning from Him. It was an amazing way to practice thankfulness and faith. We both felt so encouraged.
Through these small things, God is teaching me to see the blessings. Recognize the good. To be more content and to trust Him. Because He has never done me wrong before. So maybe it took 4 months away from home and halfway around the world from comfortable for me to truly understand what Thanksgiving is supposed to be all about.
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