Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd like to take the opportunity to wish all of my family, friends, and readers a very happy Thanksgiving. I sincerely hope that each of you are blessed with many things to be thankful for today.

Since Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Korea, I don't get the day off. I don't mind working, though, since I would probably get a little homesick if I weren't working today. Most of my friends here are not American, so I will be celebrating alone with Jasper tonight. No, don't feel sorry for me! I'm honestly not sad about spending the holiday alone. I'm planning to buy myself a rotisserie chicken (turkey is unheard of here), and then I'm going to have my very own mini-feast.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'd like to take the opportunity to list the things I am most thankful for:

1. A benevolent, sovereign, and loving God. I could go one for hours, and use thousands of words, but I could never fully express my gratitude.

2. My family. All I seem to have in common with them most of the time is a bit of DNA and some shared memories, but it's enough. I love them all very much and I know that if I lost every single worldly item that I possess, at least I'd still have my family, so I'd still be a wealthy woman. They're loud and crazy, but they're full of fun, and they're mine. I thank God for every one of them every night.

3. My friends. Some of them I get to see every week, and some of them I haven't seen in years, but they're still each important to me, and I love each of them. With friends like mine, distance doesn't matter. In particular, I am thankful for my three closest friends, Duper, Brittany, and Jenny - three of the finest women I have ever known. Because of knowing each of them, I have been changed for the better.

4. The opportunities I have been given. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I have had many more than my fair share of memorable, wonderful experiences.

5. My health. Sure I keep catching annoying viruses, but I have limbs that work well, an alert mind, and the ability to do the things I enjoy. I'm not in debilitating pain, nor am I in any way restricted. That's a lot to be thankful for right there.

I could go on and on, because I do have a lot to be thankful for, but in the interests of not wearing out my readers, I have decided to just list the top five.

Thank you, God, for everything.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Happy thanksgiving!

Yep, Thanksgiving is not holiday in Korea, but Chuseok is there:)

Have a fun in Gyeonju, beautiful city.

From Korea to Kalamazoo:)

"Passage—immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins! Away, O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!
Cut the hawsers—haul out—shake out every sail!
Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough?
Have we not grovell’d here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?
Have we not darken’d and dazed ourselves with books long enough?

Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go, And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

O my brave soul!
O farther, farther sail!
O daring joy, but safe! Are they not all the seas of God?
O farther, farther, farther sail!"

~Walt Whitman, "Passage to India"