"Great is the Lord and Worthy of Praise" Psalm 145

Last weekend we had our Pharos Weekend.  Though this year is only half over, I know that that weekend will definitely be one of my highlights. 

Ok, I want to start out by saying that this whole semester we have been praying that we would have twenty participants for this weekend.  I know that that doesn’t sound like a lot, especially by American standards, but getting twenty people to commit to a weekend retreat that’s theme is worship when they could instead be studying for the upcoming exams or hanging out with friends would pretty much require a miracle. 

Friday evening, when we arrived at the retreat venue, there were twenty of us, as well as Stevie Jordan, our guest speaker.  This was only the beginning of the Lord’s blessings on us.  His presence was very evident the entire weekend. 

Gratitude

So one of the weirdest feelings is attempting to celebrate an seemingly important holiday when no one around you really shares in your festivities or even understands the specialness of the day. On thanksgiving this year, I experienced this very strange occurrence.   As I was trying to explain the holiday, one of the questions someone asked was "Why do you wait until a specific day annually to express your gratitude? Why not daily?"

I really took this question to heart and am trying to be grateful daily for all of the extraordinary blessing that I have been given.  I would like to share some of those with you (and note that this is distinctly not in honor of Thanksgiving, but 10 days later, on a distinctly 'normal' day :)

Thanksgiving- American Style

1. Having clarified that this is not in honor of thanksgiving, I am grateful that we had the opportunity to bring an American custom to Belgium and share the old tradition with new friends.