i feel like the Lord was graciously preparing my heart for what this holiday season would look like, but WOW did He exceed my expectations in how He lavished contentment, grace, gratitude, joy, peace, and so much more upon my asian thanksgiving! the two weeks leading up to thanksgiving offered opportunities for us to share thanksgiving with some of our new friends. it is neat to be able to share not only an american holiday but also the true reason for our thankfulness with these sweet friends! we even shared our kindergarten tradition of making "turkey hands" together...i guess when you're new to something it can be fun at any age!!
our actual thanksgiving day was full of fellowship, food, and family (as i'm sure most of yours was)! wednesday we commandeered the boys house, pooled our decorating resources and creativity, and set some festive tables for our crowd of 30. then we got busy preparing all the thanksgiving classics we could accomplish. i was pretty impressed with the bounty that filled our table and provided the sweetest taste of home: pumpkin bread, mashed potatoes, fried turkey, green bean casserole, apple caramel spiced cake, sweet potato casserole, eggplant casserole, and everything else you could imagine. i don't think i've ever been so full after a thanksgiving meal...while living in asia i think my stomach forgot how to handle normal american feasts! it was a delight to celebrate this day of thanks with my new kind of family: my asian family. these people i'm living with are far from just friends or classmates but have truly become family in every sense of the word: and for that i'm so thankful!
we continued our holiday weekend by hopping on a 2-hour fast train to another city. we found some of the best american food we've had since we arrived, some great shopping, and wonderful time with friends we've made who live all over this region! saturday morning we woke up to a good ole turkey bowl where our guys got their game on. we had a blast watching them play and fellowshipping with friends we don't often get to see! this little bit of football made me feel right at home. after a quick two days out of town, we took a late night train back home to make it in time for the IRONBOWL!
and oh my goodness are we glad we did!!! i'm pretty sure no one could have missed what happened in this game (unless you've been hiding under a rock)! never have i ever been more proud to be an auburn tiger! cheesy as it sounds, it was a glorious victory!! we set our alarms for 4 AM and gathered 14 deep to watch this epic game. we were on the edge of our seats most of the game, and i very much enjoyed texting back and forth to america and uganda as friends and family watched together. then the last couple minutes of the fourth quarter happened, and i'm think i might've had a heart attack of excitement!!!! that was literally the craziest, BEST, most ridiculous football game i've ever seen! running 109 yards to score the game-winning TD begs only one question: hey nick, ya got a sec?! we were jumping around, dancing, screaming, crying, and every other emotion of happy you can imagine...we might've woken up the entire 22-story building! watching the entire stadium storm the field only fueled our disbelief and excitement. in a lot of ways it still feels like a dream!! since we couldn't join in the typical toomer's rolling, we made our own asian toomer's corner which earned us quite a few funny looks! nevertheless, a big WAR EAGLE was raised from our little corner of the earth!! it was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend...and provided yet another thing to be thankful for!
i am amazed that each day the Lord continues to do abundantly and exceedingly more than ALL i could ask or imagine. He has given me great contentment in this place and His faithfulness continues to draw me to Himself. the JOY He offers is truly INEXPRESSIBLE and FULL OF GLORY! today i'm thankful to know who to give thanks to.
No comments:
Post a Comment