Today Christina and I want to take a few moments to simply say
“Thank you!”
We’ve already finished our Thanksgiving dinner here in Ukraine. Guests have gone home and the house is quiet. It was a blessed day, one that we were able to share with some of our closets friends and co-workers.
Our hearts are filled and so are our stomachs!
(You can download a hi-res version of this photo to print out and put on your fridge or to put up on the missionary board of your church. Hopefully it will be a good reminder for you to pray for us. Download is here.)
Celebrating Outside the US
Celebrating US Thanksgiving when you’re not in the US is a little strange. It’s strange because no one else is celebrating, it’s just another run of the mill work day here.
In a way it makes you more aware of the specialness of this holiday, it makes you see how easy it is to get caught up in the every day hustle of life and forget how much you have to be grateful for!
No Water
We planned to have our missionary team over for Thanksgiving dinner, then on Wednesday we came home and there was a sign on our door warning us that the water would be shut off from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM on Thursday, November 27th!
So how do you do Thanksgiving for 16 people with no running water in the house? We filled the bathtub with water, got a bucket ready to flush the toilet and figured we’d just have to wait to wash the dishes. Thankfully, they turned the water back on a little earlier than we expected at 3:00 PM!
Gratitude Kills Worry
We really didn’t worry about not having water on Thanksgiving too much. You see, we just have too much to be grateful for to let something as insignificant as not having water when we expected it get us down.
One thing I learned when I wrote my book on worry is that a grateful heart can kill worry and anxiety almost faster than anything!
“I’ve never met a truly grateful person who also struggles with worry and anxiety. The truth is that worry can not coexist with a heart that is overflowing with gratitude towards God. Thankfulness is the knowledge that God has provided and will continue to provide. Thankfulness is the belief that God is still ultimately in control. Thankfulness is giving God his rightly deserved praise for sticking with us in the toughest times and the greatest pain. Thankfulness acknowledges the fact that we really have nothing to worry about if God is on our side!” -What If… How to Kill Worry and Anxiety Before They Kill You!
Why We’re Thankful
So here’s a very short list of a few things that we are thankful for this year.
- For peace in our city!
- For the freedom and opportunity to minister and preach the gospel in Ukraine.
- For a healthy family.
- For parents nearby and far away.
- For the many who remember us in their prayers, it’s humbling to know that people are regularly getting on their knees before the throne on our behalf!
- For our church here in Odessa and the wonderful fellowship of believers there.
- For many supporters who sacrifice on our behalf to keep us working here in Ukraine.
- For our fellow missionaries who encourage us.
- For many ministry partners who make ministry a joy.
Loren Pinilis
November 28, 2014I can understand what you mean about feeling out of place when no one else is celebrating the holiday around you. I’m the reverse today – it’s just another workday for me in the office, but everyone keeps talking about Black Friday.
Glad you had a great Thanksgiving, Caleb. Mine was great, too. I’m thankful for my family, particularly my three boys. They’re all healthy and growing in every way.
Caleb
November 28, 2014I’m back to work today too Loren! Glad you had a great Thanksgiving. I bet you have a pretty exciting household with those three boys running around.
Maureen Ray
November 30, 2014You look rather tired and down in your photograph which was just lovely of Christina and the children.
I really do know how you feel about missing, and then trying, to celebrate thanksgiving to God for something. The United States is probably the only country in the world that has a day set aside to thank God for something.
In Australia Christmas is celebrated in summer: Sometimes people have a barbecue on the beach and we often have a cold dinner, prepared the day before or have fish and other seafood which is plentiful here. None of this secular enjoyment of food and frivolity is in remembrance of the First coming of the Messiah.
Caleb
December 2, 2014Maureen I once celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Southern hemisphere when I was in Brazil. I was a different experience.
Maureen Ray
November 30, 2014First – I have just printed your photograph off and it is just drying – looks really good.
I didn’t comment on all I was thankful for:-
I am thankful and grateful that we are both saved for the Kingdom of Heaven;
I am thankful for my loving, kind and intelligent husband;
I am thankful the Lord has taught me what it means to obey my husband and in so doing obey His Word;
(I never knew what this mean’t before Mark asked me to marry him for I had to do literally everything and now I feel cherished;)
I am thankful for our home and our garden, and the beach at Mollymook;
I am thankful for our two beautiful little dogs – Honey and Shona and for the privilege of having my darling Curtley Ambrose for 18 years and 3 months;
I am thankful for having the eyes to see all the colour and diversity of the trees and flowers;
I am thankful for my parents who were British and I do thank the Lord very much for my mum and dad;
I do thank the Lord for Ariel Ministries and Dr Arnold and his wife Mary Ann;
I am so very thankful for all God has permitted me to do in my life both in His will and out of it; (Goodness I have given him much to attend to in me rescuing me from and protecting me from the evil one;)
I am thankful for just so much and thankful for the peace and joy in our marriage.
Caleb
December 2, 2014I love this list Maureen, you have so much to be thankful for!
TCAvey
December 1, 2014A thankful heart certainly does kill anxiety, fear, and anything else satan tries to distract us with.
There’s so much to be thankful for. I pray for a heart of gratitude all year long.
God bless.
Caleb
December 2, 2014Thank you for your prayers TC!