Today we will be eating foods we haven't had in a long time. My brother's smoked turkey, my dad's ham, my sister's home made rolls, my mom's pumpkin pie, my grandma's dressing.
As I drove down the street and saw the fall colors and the leaves on the ground, and smelled familiar smells, I suddenly realized what we had left.
This last month has been a whirlwind. It began with a wedding. That took a lot of energy and was a lot of fun. Then we began a series of visitations and dinners, seeing friends and family. We threw in some shopping for items we need restocking on, or have missed, some christmas presents to take back.
Today seems to be the first day I've taken a moment to reflect on the month.
Our time here will end with a funeral as my great uncle passed away this week.
Thinking about what I'm thankful for has a much deeper meaning for me this year than it has in past years. Because this year was the first complete calendar year of my life when I lived completely dependent on God to provide everything.
My eyes water a bit when I think about leaving family and friends again. I may miss some of the food, but I won't miss much else other than the people.
We expected to miss a lot of things. Ice-cream, steak, malls... but in truth, the only thing that we truly miss was people. It was very nice to be here and see folks.
We are deeply honored the God would enable us through you to be a part of His plan to bring His name to Papua New Guinea.
We are deeply thankful for you who support us to be here, in prayer and in finance, knowing the difficulty this country has seen in recent times.
We are overwhelmingly aware that God doesn't need us to accomplish His work, but He chooses to let us be a part of it, so we get to see Him glorified through our actions.
What a good year this has been. It hasn't been an easy year, but it has been a good year, glory to God.
Have a good holiday season.
