Happy (belated) Thanksgiving friends!
We traveled home from mom's surgery yesterday, full of gratitude that things went incredibly well and smooth. I am confident that it is the prayers of so many and I am so incredibly grateful. Due to weather and an unexpected snowstorm our trip home was long... but filled with a tender reminder of so many things that we have been blessed with. I hope that each of you (for my readers in America) that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving- however you were celebrating it.
This past Monday at my work we were asked to share a Thanksgiving tradition and I ended up sharing one from many years ago... when life seemed a bit simpler, when the family felt "intact and whole" with my hero father and my precious grandmother were still here with us...before "all the stuff"... simple traditions that in reality had nothing to do with "thanksgiving" and more to do with silly laughter that came about over the years. After I shared I was quiet as others talked excitedly about their plans and the special foods and traditions that they have and a thought crossed my mind... "will it ever be like that again"? Not the laughter (my mom and sis and I) have fought hard for that over the past five years... but the silly traditions that mean so much to my heart... and I realized it would- different, but the current and the future can blend the old while mixing new traditions. Seasons change... but I am realizing more and more that Thanksgiving in many ways is a complete act of faith - not just for one single day, but for our daily lives.
Faith that my past life (Dietrich Bonhoffer once declared) is abundantly full of God's mercy.
Faith that my current road that has followed lots of loss over the last few years (as Elisabeth Elliott once described)... is the set of marching orders.
And most of all faith for the future in the trust of the unchanging one as one of my heroes, Darlene Diebler Rose so adequately stated... "I realized how little I knew of what makes a true missionary statesman; of a faith that never staggers at the promise of God, no matter how incredible to the natural man its fulfillment seems; of a trust in the Unchanging One, Who keeps the heart at rest and unperturbed in a changing world; of a burning love that counts not life dear until itself, but is expendable for God; and of a vision that is never dimmed."
In closing, thank you for continuing to make this such a beautiful community and space for more than a 11 years. This Thanksgiving I am so grateful for each of you, the opportunity to connect and encourage one another in this space and on the journey the Lord has us. Praying that this Thanksgiving season is a beautiful one for you and your loved ones.
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