My Thankful List:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday weekend and are celebrating this season with your families. As I've mentioned before, it's not easy being home at this special time... I miss seeing the changing colours of the leaves, and the smell of apple crisp baking in the oven, and being surrounded by a table of family faces for thanksgiving dinner. But once again, the Lord has provided in other ways and I truly feel blessed to be in this place. Even though thanksgiving isn't officially celebrated in Haiti, on Saturday night us Canadians (the van der Mark family, Rachel, and I), joined together for thanksgiving dinner consisting of pizza, vegetables, german crepes, ice cream and cinnamon twists. We all decided that just because we didn't have turkey and stuffing didn't mean we couldn't celebrate the holiday, so we each went through our fridges and brought together our most special items. And keeping tradition with all thanksgivings, we ate A LOT! :) I am thankful that I was able to share that special meal with my new 'family'!

This past week at school I also had my kids reflect and write about what they were thankful for. As I was reading their responses I began to think that I too need to make my own thankful list. So often we just take things for granted, and yet thanksgiving is a time for us to really reflect on all that we are blessed with. So here are some things I am thankful for this October:

- Warm sunshine and tropical trees

- The view of the Caribbean sea from my front door

- Fresh fruit and vegetables

- Yolty's lunches

- The beach

- New friends

- My very own apartment

- Cool showers

- My macbook

- Skype video chats

- Facebook pictures

- ATV's

- My mosquito net - Or as Darcie likes to say - Canopy of dreams!

- Music

- My ipod dock

- After supper chats 

- E-mails from home

- Starbucks frappuccino's

- Wireless internet 

- Fans

- Antibacterial soap

- Bright new paint

- Raid Roach Killer

- Sticky traps

- Fantastik antibacterial spray

- Fresh, clean water

- My pillow

- Prayer support

- My bible

- Orphan smiles

........ I think I could go on and on...... 

I am so blessed! I am thankful for life here in this place. For the health and strength to wake up each morning and embrace the day. For the joy of serving and being in fellowship with brothers and sisters not just in Haiti, but all over the world. And most of all, for the freedom I have through the price that Jesus paid on the cross - which enables me to have hope for each circumstance, knowing that His promise of goodness and love endures forever.