Thanks

Psalm 118:19-20  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. THIS is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.

One of my friends emphasized the little word "THIS" in the above verse for me—in other words, it is giving thanks which is the gate through which the righteous may enter. She challenged me to look around and give thanks throughout the day. I realized how much I have to be grateful for here in Honduras.

I thanked God the other day for his gift of allowing me to see a water walking lizard--they call it the Jesus Christ lizard. :)

The grocery store had everything that I wanted the other day!!! I thanked God for supplying that. It is not something you can take for granted.

A huge blessing is prior to my coming here, Michelle, the other missionary here, said she could never find skim milk. The store now has skim milk--and pretty regularly now, too. I love my milk, and it's important for my health. :)

I see God making mini "divine appointments" when my Spanish teacher dropped a comment about an office that helped women in domestic violence in Siguatepeque; I promptly found out more about them. I also had a neat "God ordained conversation with the seminary's cook the other day, and thanked God for that.

Today, I found a song I really liked.

I thank God when I can laugh with the seminary students--he is the one giving me the ability to understand the language.

I thank God for the rain and the thunderstorms that come each afternoon (we had a mighty one today!!!), and I live in deep, daily gratitude for the mountains around me. I love them. I don't think my Father could have arranged a more perfect climate for me, for right now. I told my mom that when Jesus makes a place for me in heaven, it is going to look a lot like Honduras—lots and lots of green, mountains, sun each morning with thunderstorms in the afternoons/evenings, and lots of flowers and butterflies.

I thank God for when the other missionaries and I can relate and encourage each other—those little small connection points mean an incredible amount.

I thank God for news back home and for encouraging emails that arrive.

I had to spend some time just thanking God this afternoon, because I was discouraged. He reminded me that I am to be thankful for discipline, because it means I am a CHILD of His!

I am thankful when Heidi (a daughter of a seminary student whose family lives on campus) comes up and gives me a good night hug.

I am thankful that I get to see Malachi (the missionary's 8 month old son) begin to crawl, that I have the privilege of being part of their family for a little bit.

I also want to highlight the word for "thanksgiving" in Spanish—it is accion de gracias, or, the "the act of thanking." And the word "gracias" (used in the familiar "muchas gracias") is rooted in gracia, grace.