I hope that each day we can all be thankful for something, be with those we love, take a moment to realize all of our blessings and....eat some freshly baked apple pie!
I remember last year as I was helping get things cooked for Thanksgiving dinner I turned to my mom and said "You know, next year I won't be here for Thanksgiving." [insert sinking feeling].
I love Thanksgiving. I love having three days off just to hang out with people and eat. I don't have to worry about getting presents or being prepared. I just have to be able to talk and eat. Two things I happen to do very well. I enjoy eating a delightful meal with my family and then heading up to my Aunt and Uncle's for desserts. Their house has a wood stove that is constantly running; ensuring everyone in the house to be nice and cozy. The last couple of years I have gone Black Friday shopping with my cousin Josh. I don't think I've bought anything, I just go to spend the wee hours of the morning with him. I love him. He lives around six hours away from my home back in the states but every time he comes to visit, I try to spend as much time with him as possible. He calls me at school on a regular basis, just to check up on me and listen to me. He is a good listener. In the spring I was in my dorm room and he called me. He asked "What are you doing?" I said "I'm in my room." He told me to look out my window. I ran, excited, to the window. "I'm not there." Oh I was so mad at him. This is what I have to deal with, such a chore :)
Some of my favorite things in life are: letters in the mail, time with good people and Jesus. Individually or combined, they make me very happy :)
This year I thought I would be fine because who else gets to have Thanksgiving in Belgium? But...guess what, my immediate family is not in Belgium. I had to work on a project and take a French test that day, welcome to Thanksgiving in a foreign country. The test didn't go as well as it could have (studying has become very difficult here, especially when you are traveling all over!) and I had the task of making a Thanksgiving vegetable dish. I normally don't get upset, but I did. I wanted to be home. I didn't want to take a test and worry about school work. I ended up (thankfully) skyping with my mom. Within a minute of the video being turned on I had tears flowing down my cheeks. Though I love being here and experiencing new things every day, the novelty of being abroad really wore off on Thursday. I was talking to one of my friends and she was like "Krissy, I'm glad you're having new experiences and meeting new people but I just want you to come home." I couldn't have agreed more. Being home sick is normal while abroad (thankfully I haven't had it too much!) but I feel like it is especially difficult around the holidays.
I cried because I'm sick of doing work (you might ask what work, but I assure you...I do work...sometimes), I miss my family and friends at home and I don't know how to make green bean casserole. *sniff* My life is so terrible. Not. In all honesty, I do miss home. I am blessed with the best people on earth. My family, my friends, the people who have taken me under their wings to help me get to my dreams, they are the best. It is understandable that I should miss them :) I talked with my mom, had a good cry (which really always helps...I'm not one for dwelling on things) and then received the encouragement I needed to make that green bean casserole!
I mixed some things together like the recipe said, added some other things just for fun (get it from my dad) and then went out into the cold, bundled and carrying a casserole. I felt like everyone on the metro stared at me. They must have been jealous they weren't having Thanksgiving. I rode with two of my friends on the train to Antwerp (one was so hungry, he needed to eat the casserole a little bit early) and arrived with the casserole in tact! I then crumbled sour cream and onion pringles onto the top of it to substitute for french onions (they don't know what they are here so that was my mom's suggestion!). It was a success. The evening was wonderful, the food, delicious, and my casserole made the cut. I can't tell you how happy I was.
Three weeks from this moment I will be sitting at home! It is so crazy to think about. Time has flown by here. I'm also struggling with the fact that I will be missing people from here when I go home. But I'm missing people from home while I am here. It is a vicious cycle that I do. not. like. My friend Rey (he is from Africa, he and his wife Lia have been very good to me here) told me that that is what happens when you travel; you can't stop traveling and your heart is spread around the world. I guess that is one of the things I will have to deal with :)
Here is a list of things I am thankful for here in Belgium:
My friend Kristen: who willingly skips work to go with me to a VW Beetle exhibition, among so many other things she does for me.
A Thanksgiving dinner :)
A successful green bean casserole
Two wonderful people who have opened not only their home, but their hearts to me, becoming my "parents" while I am here
My roommate and dear friend, Julia
A Thanksgiving Skype date with both of my Grandmas :)
I love them both so much. They are beautiful cheerleaders in my life.
Things I am thankful for: A dad who has shown me the love of God every day of my life, a mom who edifies and cheers me on, sisters that would do absolutely anything for me, brothers that let me cry on their shoulders, an extended family that picks on me, prays for me, loves me and would gladly go to war for me, friends that listen, cheer, dream, plan trips to Africa, keep me accountable, pray for me, laugh with me and make music videos with me, and the beautiful people that God has blessed me with that see my dream and give me everything they can to help me get there.
Things I am thankful for in Belgium: My host family and the wood stove, my roommates, the metro, the walk to my internship, the skype dates, the samples at the store, my friends, the bible study, my church family (I have met people here who would help you in any way possible, I love these brothers and sisters), my french class, my french professor (who has adopted me into her abroad program), the choir that allows me to sing Christmas music every week, my increasing french skills, my central location of traveling, the lack of rain, and the delicious food.
I am thankful that my knee works (after reconstructive surgery), I am thankful I can wake up everyday with hope, I am thankful that I will always be loved, I am thankful that I can be here in this little country, I am thankful that I have a God I can talk to, trust, confide in, learn from, take refuge in and give my entire life to...knowing it will yield something greater than I could imagine.
I am thankful that this life I'm living feels like a dream and that the God I'm serving loves me. I'll never get over it.
I'm so blessed and so utterly thankful.
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