Ah, November 25th. My favorite day of the month, and it also happens to be Thanksgiving. I love when it falls on the 25th! Today my family from Graham came to our house, and Wade spent his last Thanksgiving as an ACU student with us. Wade and Brad York spent their first Thanksgiving with our family their freshman year at ACU. Brad started going home after that, but Wade spent last year with us as well. It's always fun to have someone from outside our crazy circle included in the festivities (eating & watching TV). I am going to miss those guys next year!

Of course it’s always good to reflect on how the Lord has blessed you, as is the tradition around this time. I have realized lately that I need to do it more often. While I know that I am supposed to be in Abilene for this time, I often think about the future and when I get to leave. But if I only look to the future and what might be, I will completely miss out on what is happening now, and what the Lord might be trying to teach me now. So here is a list of the things I am thankful for this year (in no particular order):

• My family- a girl couldn’t ask for better parents to live with, and my bother of a brother isn’t too bad either.
• My job- this has been the most incredible, unexpected blessing of this semester; Shelley, my “boss”, is so gifted, and the other people I work with are awesome.
• Old friends- I am grateful for my best friends from high school, Carrie & Erin, and that we have only grown to love each other more over the years.
• New friends- I have made a few new friends since moving here, and I am so excited that the Lord put them in my life!
• Rosa’s- this yummy, new Mexican food place that just opened up here; I won’t lie- it’s only been opened 2 weeks, and I have eaten there at least 9 times.
• Woodmont- who am I that the Lord blessed my life with two years at Woodmont? I love my FOGWHCC family!
• Highland- if I had to leave Woodmont, then Highland is the next best thing; Mike feeds us such a rich meal each Sunday, and the strangers are starting to look like family.
• Anne Elizabeth & Nathan Wade- these are the two precious children I have been babysitting every Tuesday afternoon over the past semester; my job is to take care of them each week, but I always learn more from them than they do from me; they are moving to NC at the end of the year, and I am going to miss them terribly!
• Jessica Duty- my soul sister; we spent the summer in Perth together, shared a bed for most of the time, and shared our hearts each night before going to sleep. I love this girl.
• My new sister- Lindsey Webb, my sweet friend from ACU days, is coming to live with us next semester! This is an answer to prayer for her, but I am just as excited as she is!
• My degree- sometimes I forget that I am a big girl now, and actually have a college degree; when I transferred, it took me awhile to get used to the idea that my diploma would say “Lipscomb University”, and not “ACU”; but now I am so proud that I studied at Lipscomb and will be honored to (someday) hang my diploma in my office.
• Aussie friends- though I was only in Perth for 2 months, I made some lifelong friends; at least once a week, I get to instant message with an Aussie friend or receive an encouraging email; thank you, Lord, for bringing us together!
• Wednesday night class- these are the kids that chose not to be in the musical, and I am selfishly glad that they made that decision! I have learned more from teaching them than any other time I have taught, and I pray that the Lord has used me to teach them something as well.

Yikes, that is a heap of blessin’. Most of these things wouldn’t be so if I were not in Abilene. Thank you, Lord, for my time here. I pray that I will be a blessing to others, just as you have blessed me.