Thoughts of Thanksgiving

Leaves falling signal approaching death. Yet I never feel more alive.

All is still, calm… beautiful.  My heart awakens and is moving, dancing… it’s enraptured. It is Autumn.
Morning by morning, coolness presses in, as warm hues of late summer have passed.  All that is, calls                                                                                    us to recognize the season.  The season beckons us to harvest, to prepare, to gather in and close the                                door.   The fire will be the gathering place; all are welcomed to its warmth. We will huddle close and remember, taking count of the provision, the plenty. We will bow our heads, remembering from Whom                             these blessings have come.  We will remember and be thankful.

So, today, as I remember, I let reminiscent tears flow, and, though far from those scenes, those experiences...humbly, I choose to be Thankful.

Why the tears? Poetically I look at my experience, my journey, through the scope of time… in blocks, like seasons. On my journey summer is over. The tedious, somewhat arduous task of harvesting has been upon us.  And yet, I look out my window,  and no where do I see the beauty in the earth that proclaims the season of harvest and storing … not this time of year here, not like I remember.  My heart wants to ache for yesteryear, for the familiar traditions that are nostalgic and dear. I resist the temptation to pitifully long for that which we can’t grasp yearly, seasonly, gathering together as family and friends to enjoy the nostalgic traditions we have in common there; because, truth is we are here in Cambodia, many miles away. However, at such times, we do steal a moment to remember those there. We must enjoy that memory thankfully, and rest our hearts in trust that…We are none the poorer in our absence.

Yes, I trust, and step back in faith, in hopes of seeing with my spirit’s eye the portion that is our lot here.  I step back and ask the Lord to faithfully give a glimpse in this season of His horn of plenty… full of spiritual fruit and abundance. In this country, so far from our familiar customs and family traditions,  I long to see it, again, just a glimpse, this Holiday season.  As my heart wants to ache and long for the “times” we once knew there, sights and smells, and sounds, I know that it is just a parallel of what  I’m asking for, believing to see, sense, experience here, in His time. I’m trusting that all the beauty, warmth, and blessings that accompanies God-fearing traditions that our families have walked in there, would be a realistic hope, the future result of what has been planted here. I trust that we'll see "all things made beautiful in His time" (Ecc. 3:11). Again, in the spirit, I await His revealing of the Harvest that is taking place… the abundance of His blessing made manifest in this place.

So, it is Autumn, it is “Thanksgiving”, the most wonderful symbolic time to remember His many benefits and I choose to look at Him alone during this season. He alone is the One to Whom we are thankful for all seasons of this journey of life. Though we miss the “season” and all the benefits there, we are thankful for harvest and dear saints here. Today, I bring to remembrance all the many blessings of yesteryear as well as my “todays”, and I am thankful.  I journey on… and thankful I will choose to remain.