And thus commences the obligatory and cliche Thanksgiving blog post.
I have an unreasonably large amount of things to be thankful for, but fortunately for you, my attention span is way too short for me to sit here and write about all of them. So I'll just hit the highlights.
I am thankful for my family. We're a screwed up, sitcom-like, beautifully ridiculous mess, but at the end of the day, we always all still love each other. They've helped make me who I am, and I love them dearly. Also, I am thankful for those who are family in heart rather than blood.
I am thankful for my friends. The first few months of this semester were harder than I could possibly have imagined, and I truly don't know if I could have made it without them. They challenge me, they hold me accountable, they call me out when I'm wrong, and they pick me up when I fall. It's easy to look at your life and see things you want to change. It's much more difficult to actually effect that change in your own life. The support of friends who are also deliberately seeking God, who want to do what is right even if it costs them everything, makes the whole journey exponentially easier (or else it makes me stronger?). Somehow, I just don't think we were meant to do it alone. Maybe that just shows my personal self-control deficit, but there it is...
I am thankful for twenty-three little souls who mean the world to me, and for two more that the world just couldn't hold. They are not merely students, or patients, or summer camp kids. Somehow, in a way that I don't entirely understand, they moved into my heart and took it over. I have never loved anyone or anything as deeply as I love those children. It's not a vague "I-love-all-kids" or "I-love-the-poor-children-of-Africa" thing, though both of those are also true. It is a specific, deliberate, unquenchable, and personal love for each and every one of them. They are real little people, with their own personalities, dreams, and histories. Words fall short, so I'll stop trying now.
I am thankful for the residents of Kennedy Hall, fourth floor south. They are amazing girls. This RA job kind of dropped out of the sky into my unsuspecting hands this semester. Going into it, I didn't know what to expect, but I honestly believe that I have the best floor on campus. I haven't had any trouble with rule violations (unless you count the noise level, which is the direct result of excessive fun). They support each other, and they take care of each other. If one of them is sick, the others check on her. If someone is studying, another resident is likely to bring her food, or coffee, or at least a well-intentioned distraction. I am constantly uplifted by their compassion, dedication, and ability to bring humor into literally any situation. The vast majority of them are engaged on campus, in each others lives, and in the world in general. They exemplify what true community should look like. And very little of that is of credit to me-- they're just that great. I am so very proud of them, and I am honored to call them not just my residents, but also my very dear friends.
The few aforementioned blessings barely scratch the surface of this amazing gift of life that I have been given. There are many more I could write about, but those will do for now.
I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with this post when I started it, but as I skim back over it I notice that the three things that came to my mind first to write about were all related to people. These aren't necessarily the three things I'm most thankful for (for instance, salvation and grace would be somewhere much higher on the list...). That being said, they are apparently three things that fill my heart enough to spill out onto paper (or cyberspace). They are people who remind me what hope is and have shown me what love is. They have fought with me and for me, and for that too I am thankful. This raises some interesting questions and insights into my own psyche that I'll explore later (if I remember), but for now, I'll leave you with these words of wisdom from two very dear friends of mine-- Frodo and Samwise. If any two people were ever thankful for the support of each other, surely it was these two. Every journey is better if a good friend walks it with you, because eventually, you'll need them to remind you why it's worth it to keep walking.
"A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."
"What are we holding onto, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo...
and it's worth fighting for."
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