Happy Turkey day!

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone. The day kind of came out of nowhere. Without the changing the leaves and cold weather, I think I would often forget that it is fall season which is definitely my favorite time of year. Since most of the people I work with are Tanzanians and the rest are from other western countries, no one else took the day off of work. However, Julia and I decided that we were definitely not going to work on the yummiest of all holidays.

This Thanksgiving looked nothing like any other Thanksgiving I have ever had. We did not have turkey, stuffing, Dad's famous cranberry sauce, my brother's favorite green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, or my favorite pecan pie. We were not with family or even with a big group of people: it was simply Julia and I. Without the usual comforts and delights of this wonderful day, we decided to do something completely different: go hike up to a waterfall. Enjoying God's creation seemed like the best plan possible. The night before when we returned home late from one of the villages, we discovered our car was in pieces... again. The mechanic had to do a lot of work on it and it would not be ready for several days. So, no transportation.

So, what to do... Julia and I slept in a bit and then went to one of the nice hotels in town and had a buffet breakfast. Mmmmm.... so yummy. Afterwards we walked around town a bit and eventually ended up underneat a huge tree sitting on the grass. As we sat there, we shared various stories of God's faithfulness through the years. We told amazing tales of God's goodness, provision, and love. What a sweet time!

Then, we returned home, watched a movie on our computer and made some homemade spaghetti. To give us a taste of the holiday, we made butternut squash with some cinnamon and pumpkin spice. Very good!

While processing through day, I could not help but be overwhelmed with thankfulness for all that God has done for me. How funny that this Thanksgiving looked so different and it was the first time that I think that I really got it....

I hope you all had a wonderful day!