“Along my journey I have learned that the more thankful I am, the more I have to be thankful for.” Anonymous
It´s Thanksgiving weekend and I cannot think of a better last weekend in Sucre. Next Saturday my daughter Pilar and I will leave Sucre, my home for over twelve years and the only home Pilar has known. Over the years, I was a part of planting a church and watching it grow and go through many changes. I have shared in many joys and heartache with the people around me who became my family. I have seen God in incredible ways and I´ve learned to see Christ in the imperfection of myself and the people around me. I´ve learned that community is priority and that it will not work without grace, compassion, forgiveness and gratitude- without love- and that the more we make room for people in our lives, the more room we have.
I have moved a lot in my life and one thing I do not do well is good-byes. I have always avoided them and for the most part gotten away with it. It´s not healthy. It´s not kind. It makes people feel like they didn’t matter. So even though it´s heart breaking and hard, I have been pushing myself to say good-bye and to teach Pilar the importance of saying good-bye. How do we say good-bye? By being thankful
. Acknowledging with gratitude what that person and place has meant to you. Forgiving and forgetting the offences and annoyances. Seeing how God has worked through that person and place to bring you more and more into His presence and grace. Being thankful is key to being a Christian and it´s fundamental in living in community. I´m starting to realize it´s the only healthy way to say good-bye. And as the quote says above, the more I have expressed thankfulness, the more I realize that I have much more to be thankful about.
I am so incredibly thankful for the time God had me in Bolivia. In all that has happened here, He has shown that He is so, so good. In Bolivia, He provided more than I needed and much more than I deserved, especially in family and friends. I have been truly blessed. God has taught me so much through this time: about himself, about me, about others; about grace, about relationships, about forgiveness and unity. I have been greatly blessed and I am very thankful.
