What’s this? What’s this?
There’s color everywhere.
What’s this? What’s this?
There’s white stuff in the air.
What’s this?*
I love this season. Fall is coming to its end and winter is emerging, covering fields and trees in a sparkling white blanket. We have entered that time of year when magic is in the air. The magic of open gratitude. The magic of family gatherings. The magic of the first snow (even if I actually experienced this in September). The magic of the Christmas spirit. Do you believe in magic?
This month, Sophie and I met with our spiritual advisor, Marsha, for the third time. She challenged us to write down at least three things that we are thankful for each day. We’ve added this into our prayer journals, making a conscious effort to be grateful for things big and small. So I thought I would share just a few of my “Gratitude Goodies.”
I give thanks this month for the first graders who bubble with excitement. Christmas letters are being written to Santa. Family members are gathering for holiday meals and they can see aunts and uncles from across the state. They rejoice in the small things and make me realize how lucky I am. I have family that I stay connected with via FaceTime, texts, and phone calls while I continue through my year in Chinook and cannot wait to see at Christmas. I still write my Christmas list, each year finding it more difficult to write what I want because I find myself recognizing I have more than I could ever need. Lists that used to contain hundreds of items barely reach ten.
I give thanks for my host family. Whether they are pulling my car out of a ditch or preparing meals, they have made this experience amazing! They have opened their house up to me and invited me in like one of the family. I am grateful that Carla loves Christmas and has decorated the house with more trees than I could have ever imagined, bringing the Christmas spirit to life in the most glitter-ific way.
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I give thanks for snow. It changes this beautiful landscape into a winter wonderland. It cushioned my car when we slid into the ditch, even if it covered the ice that made me slide (okay, the ice and my slight tendency to have a lead foot). It creates a calm that can only be reached when snow blankets the countryside and makes the world clean once more. It reminds me to slow down and take a minute to relish in my surroundings.
I give thanks for my support team out here in Montana, back home in Indiana, or wherever you may be. Thank you to Marsha for your spiritual guidance, your prayers, and for bringing KFC to our last meeting. Thank you to Maggie and Jack for your check-ins and making sure that this experience is the best it can be for us and the people with whom we work. Thank you to all of our site supervisors for allowing us to come into your space and volunteer in whatever way you need. Thank you to my parents for driving my car out in September, for supporting me on this adventure, and for putting up with me. Thank you to everyone else who has supported me with prayer or financially, without you this year would not be possible.
This is a season of magic. There is magic in saying “Thank you,” for why else would it be one of the “magic words” of our childhood. There is magic in the snow, in the quiet and calm it brings and in the excitement and fun it incites. I hope that you can find the magic of the season, spread it throughout the year, and carry it with you always.
The sights, the sounds
They're everywhere and all around
I've never felt so good before
This empty place inside of me is filling up
I simply cannot get enough
I want it, oh, I want it
Oh, I want it for my own
I've got to know
I've got to know
What is this place that I have found?
What is this?*
*Lyrics from "What's This" from Nightmare Before Christmas