Great Expectations Revisited

My conversation with one of the guys here in town about expectations has become quite the running joke around town. But I'm afraid I was misunderstood. You see, I do think that putting expectations on God is risky business. Personally, putting expectations on other people seems risky to me as well, because you never know what you're going to get. But really, I didn't mean that we should have NO expectations. I mean, for example, speaking hypothetically here, if you've just finished a soccer match with a guy and you're on the bus heading back to your respective homes, you've been talking for fifteen or twenty minutes, and, hypothetically speaking, your friend is bleeding out the corner of his mouth and doesn't seem to realize this, then I think, and this is just my opinion here and my be biased by my Southern upbringing, but for me, personally, I think I would be expected to tell my friend that he has some blood coming out the side of his mouth and getting into his red beard. But then again, I may be putting too many expectations on people. Good thing it's just a hypothetical situation....

But on a more serious note, tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and I want to say what I am thankful for this year. First of all, I am thankful for the eternally amazing blessing it is to know the one, true, living God. I am thankful that even in my sin, God loved me, and sent his son to die on the cross. I thank my God for being merciful to me. I am also thankful for the opportunity to serve him here. It is a hard place sometimes and it is definitely a hard language, but I would not trade this experience for the whole world. I am being refined daily, forced to walk in faith. I am thankful to be able to be his ambassador to a lost world. I am also thankful the wonderful family and friends I have been blessed with. I don't have space to list everyone, and I hate to hurt anyone's feelings, but I have to throw a few names out that for one reason or another, have been especially dear to me recently. Gouge is the best friend a guy could have. Thanks for the emails and the few, but wonderful phone conversations. Paul you challenge me with your openness and your ability to be real with people. I hope that the Lord blesses all that you do with that PhD and that girl in seminary. Alan, thanks for sending the jacket man. I hope your pack of wild kids grows up to be half as cool as you and Adair are. Allison, if my roommate hadn't have been home tonight, I would've cried, and I'm serious about that. Thank you for that box of goodies. If you were here, I'd give you the biggest hug you've ever been given. Lane, everytime you get back from one of your trips I'm a little more jealous. Keep living the life. Jessica, thanks for being open and honest, willing to be real in front of people and in front of God. And last, but certainly not least, I am thankful for the family I have been given here. Whether it's the Vs or the Cs or the family I've been given at the church, I've felt just as at home here as I have anywhere in the world. I've been accepted as just another son by the V family and can't tell you how much of a blessing they have been to me these first few months here. To have a place that feels like home, where I can be challenged and loved, makes this move so much easier. I can't imagine trying to make this adjustment without them here.

Since Thanksgiving is such an American holiday, nothing has changed here. This is just like June the 17th or September 21st to these people (those are the two most random dates I could come up with). Though this is my third straight Thanksgiving away from home, it still feels weird to be in a place that has absolutely no concept of it being "the holiday season." But, thankfully, there are some Americans here that will celebrate this holiday in style. Tomorrow night the V family is having myself, another single foriegner, and a few single Turks over for a nice meal. It ought to be a great family time for us and a great opportunity to explain what the holiday is all about to some people deeply in need of the truth. Then Friday evening, the extended family (read: a lot of the foriegners in town) is getting together for another Thanksgiving meal. This ought to be a great time of fellowship with people that on a weekly basis, I don't spend a whole lot of time with.

So enjoy your pecan pies, your cornbread, and your big, fat, juicy Butterball turkeys (all things that we won't have here) and thank God for what we have been given. As Christians, we should be the most thankful people on Earth!