Thanksgiving

It MUST be Thanksgiving. I'm sitting in my kitchen as I write this, keeping an eye on the milk on my stove that is currently evaporating. Unfortunately, I'm now well aware of the fact that this takes several hours. A year ago, evaporated milk came in a can that took two seconds to pop open. Now, I avoid recipes that call for it because seriously, who has a few hours to just SIT in the kitchen?? But it IS Thanksgiving, and even in Romania we can't have Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. And it seems you can't have pumpkin pie without evaporated milk. (Ironically, I don't even LIKE pumpkin pie and hadn't made it until this year...)

I've been thinking about things besides pumpkin pie, though. I have so much to be thankful for this year. God has blessed me. I don't say that flippantly. I mean it and think it often. Seriously, I think I could just put up a permanent Facebook status that says "Kristie Abernathy is blessed", and that would cover me for the rest of my life.

I was asked to give a testimony Sunday evening. I shared about how I'd been reflecting lately on how thankful I am that God is always the same, regardless of where I am or what changes around me. He's constant and unchanging. He's the same God in Romania as He is in the States. I'm thankful that "if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast" (Psalm 139: 9-10). That's not just a possibility in my life. That's the reality. His hand is still here. And regardless of where I go, what I do, or who comes and goes from my life, He is here and He's the same. Amen, right?

I came home that same night to an email saying that my cousin's adorable little 19 month old daughter had very suddenly gone to be with Jesus. It was one of those times when I KNEW that even though being home wouldn't mean I could do anything more, I wanted to be there. My heart is so sad for my cousins, aunt, uncle, grandparents...why do things like this happen?? How can this be for ANYONE'S good? But even that same night, a dear friend reminded me that the same God who was with me on "the far side of the sea" was with my family back home. And I had to practice what I had "preached".

So I'm STILL really thankful that God is always the same. I'm thankful He's the same God on the other side of the sea with my family. I'm thankful that He'll be with them all tomorrow as they gather together for a Thanksgiving dinner that I know will be bittersweet. And I'm thankful that He'll be here with me as I miss them and wish SO MUCH that I was there. He's the same good God. (These words are written after a few intense days of wrestling with this. Thanks to those of you who knew and were praying.)

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. What are YOU thankful for this year?

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever."