Thankful

We have already celebrated our Thanksgiving, with 150 friends from around the world at our church this past Sunday. We enjoyed all the traditional food of Thanksgiving, as well as goodies from Spain and other foreign places :-) We are going to be "celebrating" Thanksgiving Day in Paris by sharing some French cheese with our good friends, Dan & Ruth Staalsen. So it's not exactly a typical Thanksgiving Day for us this year!

I have been reflecting on many things these past few weeks. As with many of you, I have also been thinking of the things that I am thankful for. For one thing, I am thankful that my dad is doing so well. By way of (belated) update for those of you who are not also Facebook friends :-), my dad's surgery went extremely well. He has recovered nicely and the doctors are pleased with how he is doing after surgery. He also got extremely good news last week from his first blood test: his PSA level has already gone to ZERO!! Now that his prostate is gone, any level of PSA hormone in his blood means that there is more prostate cancer floating around in his body. So this means that they really did get all the cancer that was there!! The doctors did not expect that it would go to zero this soon, and they had kind of indicated that they did not think it would go to zero at all (i.e. that they were afraid there was still cancer floating around). They will continue to watch him very closely, but we are so so thankful!!

I have also been reflecting on the last 2 years. I have been reading my journal from 2 years ago and it is hard to believe how things have changed. It would be fair to say I had many mixed emotions moving here to Spain :-). I am NOT a dreamer and it would never have occurred to me to move halfway around the world, far from everyone and everything I knew and loved. But God gave me a wonderful husband who compliments me well and who dreams big dreams - and I am SOOOO thankful! (How boring my life would be without him!) What I would have missed out on if he (and He!!) had not led us here to Spain!

In my journal in November 2007, I wrote of fear and loss and being completely overwhelmed at the prospect and details of moving internationally. I wrote of not knowing if we could make a new life for ourselves in a strange land. I wrote of being far from family and worry of something happening to them while we were so far away. I wrote of peace in the midst of my swirling thoughts and emotions and a clear sense of God's leading us to take this huge step.

The last 2 years have been some of the most difficult and the most rewarding years of our lives. We have experienced loss and overwhelming details in learning how to survive, then thrive in a strange land. But God has given us comfort in our losses and increased patience in dealing with those details - and the joys have overshadowed the loss. We have indeed had things happen with our parents: 3 of our 4 parents have had a major health crisis since we've been here. But each time, God enabled us to be with them and protected their lives. We have made a home and a life here, with a wealth of good friendships and good experiences. We have seen God's hand in our lives, protecting us and providing for us in so many ways. He has not left us alone; we have not faced this strange land without His help and His strength. We have grown emotionally, mentally and spiritually with His help.

We are now looking at the end of our time here in Spain. I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for how God has helped us these last 2 years. Remembering my emotions and thoughts 2 years ago, it is a bit ironic that in many ways we will now leave Spain with mixed emotions. Yes, we are ready to come home; yes, we will leave part of our hearts in Spain.

Thank you, God, for this rich experience and your faithful love for us!!

Happy Thanksgiving :-)