My home church has this fantastic tradition on Thanksgiving.  The church building is across the street from a lake, and every Thanksgiving morning, there is a hike around the lake followed by a time of sharing and hymns.  I just absolutely love it.

This has been such a weird week.  Not for any specific reason, but just knowing that the rest of my family was together this week and I wasn't.  It's not like I don't enjoy being here or I don't love what I do, it was just weird to know that my siblings were at my parents's house!  A couple days before Thanksgiving, I went to a choir rehearsal with a friend, and I got to meet the director and some of the other choir members.  When I was talking with some of them, they noticed that I have an accent, and when I said "I know, it'll always be there" they said "Oh but it's so charming! Don't you think it's charming? It's charming!"  I'm glad they think so, because I think it's obnoxious! :). After the rehearsal, I noticed that the percussionist looked nothing like a Frenchman (given that he had blond hair).  I asked him if he was American, which he was, and when I said that I was too, he said "Oh cool! Wait. Happy Thanksgiving!"  It is so funny to find other Americans here.

After finishing up work on Thanksgiving, I thought, "That's it. I need to make turkey and mashed potatoes tonight!"  So, I cooked a couple turkey fillets (not like the other year when I had to chop the head of the turkey-gross), mashed a few potatoes, and gravy and watched a Thanksgiving episode of Gilmore Girls.

I started thinking about this past year, and for what I was thankful.  As Josh Groban sings, "There's so much to be thankful for".  As I was thinking of God's faithfulness, how He has provided in sending me back here, the people that have been in my life, the generosity of different people, my family, the chances that I have to read and be creative, music, and all of a sudden, I found myself singing one of my favorite Swedish hymns: Thanks to God For My Redeemer.  It's such a beautiful hymn.

"Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!"

I just love that hymn! Over this past year, I've been trying to be more thankful, and living more in light of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Even when things do not go as expected, I should always give thanks with a grateful heart to the Holy One.