November 22: Thanksgiving Day = A taste of heaven

A wise friend posted on Facebook: 

 have a wonderful holiday there... enjoy the rich culture... you have many more to enjoy here later, so don't allow the homesickness! Simply internalize the blessing of your environment...

Wow....so much to internalize today.  Although it's never easy to be away from family on a holiday like today, God provided us plenty of activity and new 'family' to keep us from feeling too homesick.

The morning included something I've never before experienced on Thanksgiving Day....monkeys in our backyard!  Finally, they came by when the girls and I could see them!  (They've come before when just Nathan and George were home)

The 'blessing of our environment' today included being able to soak up hours of bountiful food and fellowship at this beautiful mansion out in the country that's owned by an American couple who attend the English worship service once a month at our church.  Their gracious hospitality blessed around 40 of us - most of whom are 'gringos' (Americans/Canadians) who have no other family here and also some Tico (Costa Rican) friends.

The kids LOVED hanging out with their dogs.

The football fans watching the Lions play.

Getting the buffet ready....just like at home:  turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn, green bean casserole (thanks to our visitors, George's sister Joan and husband Frank, who brought along the french fried onions for us this week!), sweet potatoes, breads/rolls, jello.  It was an amazing feast!

Dessert table!

A taste of heaven:

As I internalize our time at Larry and Carol's lovely home, I'm struck mostly at the incredible diversity of folks gathered there:  folks like us volunteering in various ministries and savvy businessmen who work million-dollar projects.  Rich and poor:  Vernon showed us this picture of his 6,000 square foot mansion overlooking the ocean:

Our friend Laura brought along a lovely Costa Rican woman who lives in a home with a dirt floor.  There were folks with master degrees and also those that clean homes and even an ex-murderer who now knows the Lord.  There were conversations in English and Spanish and sometimes both languages.  We broke bread together, chatted, laughed, shared and held hands to pray.  Although we seemed like a random and diverse group, we had Christ in common which certainly made it seem like we were experiencing a taste of heaven.

This is about half the group that gathered today...we praise God for allowing us to have a very memorable Thanksgiving with such a diverse group of people