blessed beyond measure

Holidays are my favorite time of the year, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am very excited that I will be home for Christmas in just a few weeks, but this week more than ever I have been really missing home, as this is the first year I have been away from home for Thanksgiving. 

Being in a different country for Thanksgiving has been a very new experience and makes me even more thankful on this day. I am so thankful for the IBEX staff that has taken so much time to make us feel as much at home as possible. Today they prepared a Thanksgiving feast for us and it was almost as good as mom's Thanksgiving dinners! 

This week I have been thinking about all that I have to be thankful for and these come to mind.

1. Thankful for thanksgiving - How awesome is it that our country sets aside a day to reflect and be thankful for all that we have been blessed with. Not to mention Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal of the whole year.
2. Thankful for Christ my Savior and the salvation I have in Him - Last night we were in Jerusalem and did a walk through Jesus' last night before the crucifixion. As with everything that I am learning here, it made it so real and I was able to get a taste of what He would have felt like as we walked all over the Old City, we gazed into the same heavens that He did on that night and prayed. I am thankful that God did not spare His only Son, but sent Him to save His children.
3. Thankful for my family - It is true that distance makes the heart grow fonder, I realize what a huge blessing each and every member of my family is. The older I get I realize how wise my parents really are, how much my sister is my best friend, and that things just are not complete with the best brothers a girl could ask for! They have shaped the person I am today and I cannot wait to be with them again soon!
4. Thankful for the body of believers - Today I was not able to celebrate Thanksgiving with my biological family, but I had the blessing of celebrating with my family in Christ, the body of Christ. I am thankful that God has given me such tight knit relationships with people I have only known a few months.
5. Thankful for the amazing experience of IBEX - I knew that coming to Israel for a semester would change my life in many ways, but it has greatly exceeded my expectations! I am thankful that this opportunity has been opened to me and I have experienced the land first hand, been challenged in my faith and knowledge, and made amazing friendships with 32 great classmates and staff.

As I have been missing home I have found encouragement in these words from Elisabeth Elliot:

              "Be still and know that He is God. Remember that you are not alone. Give thanks." 

              "Wherever you are, be all there, live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." 

              "Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living."

I have been reminded that God has placed me here until December 11th and He has a perfect plan for this time that I have left here! 

I pray you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Israel!

            "I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High." Psalm 7:17