A Beautiful, Blessed Thanksgiving

Though this past Thanksgiving was not my first holiday away from home, I was not completely comfortable with idea of missing this one. I really look forward and enjoy holidays at home. With all the delicious food and quality time spent with family and friends, who wouldn’t want to go home to give thanks for all of God’s blessings?

I had heard from all the experienced volunteers that Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays to spend at the Finca. Traditionally, Thanksgiving has become our day to share a piece of our culture with our Honduran community members and neighbors. We all pitch in as a volunteer community to make a huge Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings, then invite nearly fifty people over to our house to share in food and conversation. I must say the day certainly lived up to its reputation.

My day started at 5:15 am! I headed in to Trujillo on our weekly food buying trip in the hopes of calling home. Lucky for me, I was able to get a fairly good connection home and talk to Mom, Dad, and Derek! It was so wonderful to hear their voices and got my holiday off to a solid start. Then, Annie, Theresa, Nate, (some of my fellow volunteers) and myself did a four-mile “Turkey Trot” back to the Finca. This was my first-ever Turkey Trot and one of the longer runs I’ve had since being here, so this was exciting for me. We arrived back to the Finca just in time to play in the annual Finca Futbol Americano game. Now for those of you who know my athletic skills well, know that playing football is not my forte. However, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We turned our soccer field into a football field, all the kids and house parents surrounded around to watch, we all got in on the action, and there was a friendly level of competition. My team lost 21 to 14, but we all agreed it was a good game. After the game, it was time to get serious in putting the finishing touches on our feast. My contribution to the meal was helping make the gravy, one of my favorite parts of the meal! I was amazed at how well the meal came together. Everyone really put forth their best effort and it showed come meal time. I think the most touching part of the day was when we said grace befor the meal. We all gathered in the Sala (our shared community space). This room is rather big for 15-20 people. However, when you add 30-40 more people, things get a little crowded. Yet, we all joined hands and people shared what they were thankful for. I am not sure our Honduran friends really understand the significance of Thanksgiving, but it was beautiful to see some of them joining in and giving thanks for blessings in their lives.

After the blessing, we got serious about eating our delightful meal! It was so good. And it tasted just as it would have if we were back at home, not in 75 degree weather, looking out on the Caribbean Sea! Before Thanksgiving, we had taken a volunteer poll to see what our favorite Thanksgiving dish was. Hands down, stuffing won. So, it was very ironic that if you were to poll our Hounduran guests, you would have found that stuffing is their least favorite dish. It was funny to see all the food on their plates gone, except for a mound of stuffing on nearly every plate! I guess our taste buds are just another cultural differece among us.

The whole day was simply beautiful. Perhaps somewhat selfishly, I really tried to make Thanksgiving feel like a holiday by just really taking in all that was familiar to me about the day. Of course the surroundings and people were all different from what I am familiar with, but it was apparent beyond the delicious tradtional meal that we do have so many blessings here. We have an amazing community, very giving neighbors and community members, and a shared mission that is doing its very best to bring love and peace to the lives of our children. At the end of the day, I couldn’t help but notice I felt very contented. My transtion here at the Finca has not been an easy one, and I know there are many more challenges to come. But, the “full” feeling I had at the end of the day on Thanksgiving, and I am not just referring to my physical fullness of turkey, stuffing, and pie, was an encouragement that the Finca is where I am suppose to be right now. I am not sure if that feeling was just me taking one more step in feeling more at home here or maybe a little piece of grace from up above or maybe both, but it is a feeling I am very grateful for this holiday season.

I hope Thanksgiving was just as beautiful for you all. I hope your day was blessed with yummy food, football games, good conversation, and a time to reflect on all the good you have in your lives. Not to get to sappy here, but also know that this Thanksgiving, in a speacial way, I was thankful for all of you and your generous love and support that you have shown me and our children here at the Finca. It has been a beautiful blessing in my life this year. Thank you. And...Happy Holidays!