Monday, December 9, 2013

Thanksgiving

I found much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.  I ended up celebrating Thanksgiving over a span of eight days … I love elongated holidays.  I found that the initial time I celebrated, things were busy and although I was thankful, I had not really taken the time to dwell on the things I was thankful for.  After eight days, I had many opportunities to once again think about all the ways God has blessed my life.

I spent Thanksgiving morning and lunch with the Stewart family here in Taraz.  We played Settlers and had a really nice lunch.  I always enjoy spending time with them.  In the afternoon I traveled to Shymkent where I would spend the rest of the holiday weekend.  Some friends, who I had gotten to know better when they showed up at the same guest house in Thailand, invited me to spend the weekend with them.  It was a fun weekend mixed with relaxation (watching Christmas movies, watching football, decorating for Christmas) and celebrating the holiday with others.   

Last Friday we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with our office staff.  I found some turkey breast when I was in Shymkent, so the food was pretty authentic.  It was my first time cooking turkey breast (I have cooked turkey with a pop-up timer before) and was pretty happy with the results.  I may have to do that more often, even though I'm actually not a fan of turkey.  We had a lot of fun visiting and eating together.  

We also continued a tradition that has been in place on and off since 2006.  Our team started a tablecloth of thanks (from a tradition my mother had started in our home).  Everyone who shared Thanksgiving with us, wrote the date and what they were thankful for on the tablecloth.  When I returned last year, I found the tablecloth and started up the tradition again with our office staff.  This year we enjoyed going around the table looking at what everyone had written last year and then adding the things we were thankful for this year.  It's fun to be able to focus together as a staff on all the ways we have been blessed. 

Thank you for your friendship.  You are such a great blessing to me.  



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