Holiday Expectations, or, Thanksgiving in Malawi

A few weeks ago, I received a box well-stocked with a few things I requested, along with a few fun Thanksgiving-themed reminders of home. This week I celebrated the holiday so far away, with a crowd of people I met about four months ago, with a slightly improvised traditional menu. Things were different, but I was reminded, "This is home, too."

Traditions offer comfort and security, and I subscribe heavily to the structure they give holidays. However, when they change this drastically, a traditionalist has the chance to step back a little and consider the holiday from a different perspective. This Thanksgiving, I consider the place God brought me to. This is a place of work and pressure, a place of joy and blessing, a place of unexpected successes contrasted with startling failures and mistakes.

I have not gotten everything right; I have abused my time, had moments of extreme self-centeredness, and showed frustration with students. But blessings teem around me each day when my students enter my room, when the student newspaper is printed, when a friend from home sends an email, when an invitation to dinner is offered, when the light of the morning reminds me of its Creator, when I sit in girls' Bible study and converse with lovely women of God, when a book offers a distraction from my dysfunctional internet.

Hear Bing? "I've got plenty to be thankful for."