It’s Thanksgiving in Paraguay. The sun’s out and shining with all it’s golden strength while the soft scent of Jasmine floats gently and amiably through the backyard. Oscar’s outdoor thermometer, although perhaps giving an embellished reading because it sits in the light, reads some 110 degrees. It’s probably much cooler than that-- about 95. I’m sitting inside with the lights off and fan on, doing my best to imagine a cold and rainy November day in Ohio. The English Christmas carols I’m listening to sure do their best to set the sound of the season, but they do little in the way of driving away the reality of a hot day.
In reality, though I may wish for the comforting cold of home, I’ve got a world to be thankful for, especially as far as the weather goes. I’m living in a veritable tropical paradise, very similar to Hawaii, from what I’ve heard, and I’ve got a lot of people who care for me. This Thanksgiving, I’ll be celebrating with Oscar and Karen and their family, Ben and Vivi, and Pilar, a friend from Georgetown also serving in Asuncion, and two of her friends.
While the weather today has been hot and peaceful outside, Karen has been cooking up a storm inside with all the traditional Thanksgiving bells and whistles: a turkey, some mashed potatoes, sweet corn, and even some sweet-stuffed-squash. The turkey here is what is most precious. One pastor I spoke with had never tried it in all his life, and the other had a faint memory tasting the giant bird perhaps a couple decades before, although he couldn’t remember the taste. Needless to say, we’re privileged to have such a feast and American celebration in a place so from home.
And I am thankful, too: thankful that I’ve got an opportunity to serve in a foreign country for a year and to experience Thanksgiving away from home in Paraguay; thankful for all the hospitality that the Paraguayan church, and especially Oscar and Karen and their family, have shown me; thankful for everyone back home, too, who is thinking of and praying for me while I’m down here- I know there’s a lot of people who care incredibly much; thankful for God’s own strength, protection, consolation, and many other graces as I’ve adjusted to the culture here; and thankful that, ultimately, I know my destiny is in His hands and that He cares for me far more than any one else does and knows what’s best for me far more than I do.
And so,
Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices
Who doeth wondrous things
In us and in all places
Who from out mother’s arms
And from our childhood’s way
Hath showered us with gifts
And blesseth us today.
In reality, though I may wish for the comforting cold of home, I’ve got a world to be thankful for, especially as far as the weather goes. I’m living in a veritable tropical paradise, very similar to Hawaii, from what I’ve heard, and I’ve got a lot of people who care for me. This Thanksgiving, I’ll be celebrating with Oscar and Karen and their family, Ben and Vivi, and Pilar, a friend from Georgetown also serving in Asuncion, and two of her friends.
While the weather today has been hot and peaceful outside, Karen has been cooking up a storm inside with all the traditional Thanksgiving bells and whistles: a turkey, some mashed potatoes, sweet corn, and even some sweet-stuffed-squash. The turkey here is what is most precious. One pastor I spoke with had never tried it in all his life, and the other had a faint memory tasting the giant bird perhaps a couple decades before, although he couldn’t remember the taste. Needless to say, we’re privileged to have such a feast and American celebration in a place so from home.
And I am thankful, too: thankful that I’ve got an opportunity to serve in a foreign country for a year and to experience Thanksgiving away from home in Paraguay; thankful for all the hospitality that the Paraguayan church, and especially Oscar and Karen and their family, have shown me; thankful for everyone back home, too, who is thinking of and praying for me while I’m down here- I know there’s a lot of people who care incredibly much; thankful for God’s own strength, protection, consolation, and many other graces as I’ve adjusted to the culture here; and thankful that, ultimately, I know my destiny is in His hands and that He cares for me far more than any one else does and knows what’s best for me far more than I do.
And so,
Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices
Who doeth wondrous things
In us and in all places
Who from out mother’s arms
And from our childhood’s way
Hath showered us with gifts
And blesseth us today.
2 comments:
Hawaii? Mosquitoes? Nah.
BTW -- the biggest manufacturers of fiberglass window screen mesh seem to be in China. Maybe what you should do is figure a way to import several rolls of screen material, and set some of the brothers up in a window-screen business. Who knows, maybe people would be interested in keeping bugs out of their houses down there.
Fiberglass mesh is cheap. Wooden screen frames should be cheap. Get-up-and-go is expensive.
Jason,
Loved the pictures....
It sounds like you had a wonderful dinner....
It is 75 degrees here in Florida and the A/C is on in the office!
Just think of all the times you shoveled the snow.....now, do you really miss the cold weather?
God Bless!
A. Karen
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