Thanksgiving in Honduras

We love Thanksgiving! We love the food, the focus on giving thanks to God, and we love getting together with our family all crowded into one house for the day... but not this year!  We're in Honduras, Kelly is at the Mercy Clinic in the Philippines, Brandon is home in Maryland with his new bride Desi, and of course all of our extended family and friends are home in the states also.

We travelled back to the mountains outside of Tegucigalpa, to Norma's house, where Ellen and Norma both cooked up a storm and made sure we had plenty of food.

Ellen performed magic and produced some amazing pies!! Both an apple and a pumpkin pie, as well as some unbelievably soft and yummy fresh rolls!

I did some quick surgery on the turkey when it came out of the oven. I'm happy to report that the surgery was a success though the patient, the turkey, didn't make it.

Some other missionaries we had met at language school and who are also serving in Honduras joined us. Also, some of Norma's family joined the feast – including our dear friend Carolina and daughter Maya.

Carolina, Nicole, Maria, and Ellen

After dinner we took the traditional walk before dessert – or, the walk to make room for dessert.

Once all the dishes were cleared and some people sat down for more yak time and others found room around the table to have some fun playing Mexican Train (a dominoes game).

But, to be honest, we were missing family. The Lord provided good friends here, even our friends' visiting parents from the states joined the celebration... but, even so, we missed our family.

We were able to catch up with several of the kinfolk via the modern day miracle of cellular communication! PTL! We were happy to hear that Kelly had a Thanksgiving meal with the other young ladies at the clinic in the Philippines, and that Brandon and Desi had their own private newlywed Thanksgiving dinner for two with food for twenty!

Overall, we have so much joy in giving thanks to our awesome Most High Lord, who protects and provides for, and enabling us to be part of His story! God is good, all the time, and He is rightly deserving of all our praise!

Part of our thanks to the Lord is for our many family members and friends who have joined us through prayer and financial support to make it possible for us to be here to serve!

Catching up with our family and praising the Lord was a huge blessing for us, and we hope your Thanksgiving remembrance was a blessing for you and to the Lord!

Matt