Thankful

We celebrated our Thanksgiving today with other American missionaries living in Coruña. It was as good of a time as we could have asked for. 14 of us crammed cozily in our little apartment. Of course we ate ourselves silly on the standard poultry, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie, as well as some less standard (but no less good) enchiladas, and chicken corn soup. Certainly we have much to be thankful for. I thought I'd list out just a few.

Galicia

We have had the joy of visiting three different coastal villages on the three weekends prior to thanksgiving. This corner of Spain is unique and beautiful. Stunning really. We sometimes have trouble believing we actually live here now. We thank our father for creating such beauty.

Kids

See No Evil - When 8 month olds get silly.Explorers

As I was looking at pictures of our recent adventures I felt very blessed that our kids can experience all of this. And I am very glad to experience it all with them and in some cases through them. They have a joy in exploring all that is new here that is good to have around. Even trips to the store are exclamation point inducing for the boys. (Incidentally, and only on a hardly related note, I observed today that as a parent I am not a good judge of picture quality when my kids are in them. I keep the worst pictures of my kids because deep down I like the pictures solely because they contain images of my own progeny.)

Community

We feel blessed by the community that we are joining here. The people we have become closest to so far are the other missionaries here with whom we share a language. In addition to that small circle, Vida Nueva church has been very welcoming to us. We are excited about all of the budding relationships we are nurturing there despite our deficient language skills. We look forward to the natural maturation of these relationships as our language skills continue to improve. It is also great to see the kids really connect, play, and have fun with other kids.

La Eternidad

The day after my grandfather passed away, the Spanish word of the day for Faith was La Eternidad - eternity. It was another timely reminder of the gift of eternity that God offers to all. It is so simple to say it, but so true - I am thankful for the gift of eternity. As I processed my mourning for my grandfather I was struck that even after such a long and complete life, death still seems so unfair. Something in me still protests the unfairness of it. I think it gave me a window into the nature of death and the nature of our beings. No amount of time is enough for me, is enough for any of us. We were made with eternity sewn into the fabric of our beings. We were not made for endings. Eternity is the answer we each long for. On earth, no time is enough. So, the solution is literally 'no time.' We were designed to live in timeless eternity with the creator of the universe. I for one am thankful that Grandpa can now breathe deep with his longing for eternity fulfilled. I am grateful that we have a God who would sacrifice himself so we can join him in eternity.