Thankful for Thanksgiving

I was talking with a friend the other day about how excited I am about Thanksgiving this year.

It has never really been a huge holiday in my house. We don't eat turkey because my dad makes amazing roast beef gravy and we just prefer that better. The only thing is that we have that for Sunday dinner a lot so it's not exactly special. Also, I have no family down here in Florida so normally it is just us. So not really anything out of the ordinary other than that it's not a Sunday.

This year though it is all new. Even though it is still just my family (even minus my sister because she is with her fiance's family this year) and still the same meal, I am just so excited. That's because I got to come home from Nashville, I really am getting to see people I love and care about that I don't normally get to see anymore. Also, I haven't had good home cooking like this since I last came home.

There is another reason too though. This semester has been pretty brutal to me thus far. I moved away from home (which is hard in and of itself), and pretty much had my life as I saw it completely overturned. It was heart ache that I've never really know in my blessed life. But God is faithful, and has brought me through into a place of just astonishment and awe at how amazing and loving He is. Even through my pain, I know he was carrying out his plan for my life. I was just being too stubborn to see it. Everything that I now love about my life, there is no question in my mind that God has given it to me. New friends who are so great. Fun, encouraging, and just beautiful people all around. They are a gift from God to help and encourage me and I them. He has also provided people to rock climb, play racquetball, volleyball, and swim with. Things I would love to do, but just can't work up the courage to (or can't) do alone. In everything he has provided exactly what I need. This next semester has the potential to be amazing and I know that it is all because of God's great mercy and love watching over me.

So I'm excited about Thanksgiving the most because the holiday isn't just about food, or even family. It is about being thankful. God has just granted me this joyful perspective on life. I am just so thankful what he has taken me through and now what there is to come. I can't wait to sit around that table and say "man, God you are just awesome."

I am thankful for His abounding love and faithfulness. I am thankful for everything He has given me, everyone He has blessed me to know and love, for the gifts and talents He has given me and the chance to figure out how they can be used to further His kingdom, and just everything because it is working to fulfill his purpose.

Man, God, your just awesome!