Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. I love hanging out with family, eating, laughing and playing games ruthlessly (no mercy!). I have been away from home for Thanksgiving the last four years and each year it doesn't get easier. I still long to be there and now I long for George and Eli to meet my family and experience Thanksgiving with them too. I have faith that one day it will happen and oh, what a joyous day that will be.

But, I am so blessed. Blessed to be with my new family for the first time. Thanksgiving 2012 is the first year I am a wife and mom. It's our first Thanksgiving as an Orwa family. And being away from Kenya, it was just the three of us this year. Even though we miss our families, there is something sweet about it being just us for our first Thanksgiving together.

On Wednesday and Thanksgiving, I was a bit blue. Thanksgiving, obviously, isn't celebrated here, but it's a biggie in the US. I wanted to go out in the street and shout... stop what you are doing! It's Thanksgiving! But, no one would care. I remember being in Sudan on Thanksgiving and feeling so odd. It was just another Thursday on the compound. There was laundry to be done and patients to be seen at the clinic. I thought we all should take the day off. It was Thanksgiving! Although we had lovely meals in the evening, the rest of the day felt strange. Yesterday felt strange.

In the late afternoon, George, Eli and I took a walk. We wanted to explore our neighborhood and see what is near us. Up to that point, we had only gone in one direction - to town. Getting out felt really good. We discovered we live close to a stadium. We followed the cheers and found a soccer game in progress. We sat down in the back and took in our surroundings. Behind the stadium, Mt. Kilimanjaro's peak stood out - snow capped and shining in all it's glory. It was surreal. I wonder if the people here even stop to look at it anymore or if they are just used to it's beauty.

Because we didn't intend to go far or stay out long, we didn't bring Eli's diaper bag. I was nervous he may get hungry or need a diaper change and we weren't prepared. But, he did great. He just sat on George's lap and watched. A while later we looked over and he was asleep. Sweet little boy. All the excitement must have tuckered him out.

Soccer fans are wild! There was more excitement in the crowd than in the game. Apparently fans can get rowdy so George prepared me to be ready to leave quickly if anything got out of hand. Fortunately it didn't. The biggest drama occurs on the field. It's what drives me nuts about soccer. The players are SO dramatic when they get knocked down. They lay down acting like they are gravely injured in hopes the ref will call a penalty. Big babies! When no one pays attention to them, they get up, play and run like nothing happened.

We headed back to the house before it got dark and cooked our own Thanksgiving dinner. There isn't turkey here so we had chicken. We also had mashed potatoes, green beans, and french bread. It was delicious.

I have so much to be thankful for - my husband, my son, family, friends, church... I could go on and on. God is so good.

James 1:17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.