With Gratitude

Seasons matter. They indicate to our senses the passage of time. Without them, I feel disoriented, like this day of gratitude has appeared without much warning. Finally today, the temperature fell and my mind could reconcile a bit more that it is, in fact, November.

Our office was open today for a half-day while over 90 volunteers from all around the country served families that were perfect strangers just 4 days ago. On my way home, I stopped at Miss Smiles' home and got there just in time for sweet potatoes, some unknown southern vegetable similar to a pepper, chicken, and baked macaroni. Her daughter and son-in-law also came by to wish the volunteers who had been painting a Happy Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful half-hour--a mix of race, culture, tradition--all in the framework of gratitude.

As I've noticed the importance of seasons in the physical realm, I consider the seasons in our spiritual lives as well. I know that this season is different... and I'm beginning to be ok with that. I'm fighting the urge to replicate my CO life and instead am asking what this season should bring. All the while, I'm grateful that life brings changes, seasons--that not every day is the same, that while there may be indicators, we're not certain what that will mean. I'm thankful for uncertainty and the opportunity to seek and trust.

This Thanksgiving day, I'm also filled with gratitude that I am human, that I feel, that I was made to love and be loved, and that so many have been part of the seasons of my life.

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
--Nichole Nordeman, an excerpt from "Gratitude"

Home Away from Home

Another new beginning... my first night in my new apartment! Unpacking tonight made me feel extremely grateful for this place, this chance, this year. It's a shotgun style place with high ceilings and exposed brick over the closed-off fireplaces. There are 19 less beds then in the last house, so it automatically feels less lonely, less like others are missing. It's furnished but without a TV and I'm looking forward to the reflection time that will inevitably allow.

Many thanks to Max for bailing me out and helping me move, packing my entire car, while I rested. (I'm fighting off some kind of cold/flu right now.) Thankfully we're not working Saturday, so I'll have a true weekend to recuperate.

As I look around this new home of mine, I ponder what the memories of the next 11 or so months might entail...