Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and so naturally I am missing home more than usual.  Erica and I are going to try to make something resembling Thanksgiving dinner, but we dont have turkey :)  Chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, hopefully something like stuffing, and a spice cake.  Thats about as close as we can get and I'm sure it will be fabulous because it will be made with much love.  Everyone here loves the idea that Americans have a holiday just to give thanks.  It doesn't seem to exist in other cultures.

Erica's family came to visit the Fazenda last week.  How wonderful to have them here for a couple days!  It was a little piece of home :)  Just knowing that they saw my parents just a couple weeks before and will see them again soon filled me with such joy.  You know how often we say "Give him a hug for me!"  or "Put a kiss on her for me!"  but never before have I actually tried to hug someone so that she could pass it along.  Well I did when they left.  I think I nearly crushed Erica's mom with the hug meant for my mom and I'm sure Erica's dad won't be too shy to hug my dad for me. 

So I'm thankful for my family.  I'm thankful that I have years and years of precious Thanksgiving memories.  I'm thankful that I live with another American who can truly share this holiday with me and that we can share it with our community.  I'm thankful for all of my friends and sponsors who made it possible for me to be on this mission.  I'm thankful for all of the prayers and support I receive everyday.  I'm thankful that I am here, away from my family, because that brings the most suffering.....you're probably thinking that perhaps I've been in the jungle too long, but truly, of all the struggles here, what is the hardest for me?  Being away from my family.  I can sing in a cold shower, I can sleep on a wooden cot, I can kill huge bugs, I can pick lice out of a friend's hair, I can walk miles and miles in the midday sun, I can never flush toilet paper, I can clean bat poop off the table.  I can manage all of the physical discomforts but only the suffering that comes from missing my family draws me closer to the suffering all around me.  I think of my little Rafaela whose parents can't take care of her.  And so I am a little bit thankful that I'm away from my parents right now so that I can share at least a bit of her suffering.  It will never compare to her broken heart, but still, it's a little thing that draws us closer together.  There is joy in that communion. 

May you all be bursting with thanks!  Thankful for the people around you, even if they aren't family.  Thankful for your homes, your food, your modern conveniences, your precious lives.  And if you feel that you are really suffering, be thankful that you are not alone in that.

with much love and thanks,
Sunny

PS.  Someone please eat some pumpkin pie with mounds of whipped cream for me!  Oh, and send me a picture of it! :)