Thanksgiving Again

Lord, I'm in college. This year, I am living away from my parents for the first time. There is so much to be thankful for.

Lord, thank you for the hardships; for the missing, for the learning, for the growing. Thank you for teaching me to communicate, to not get angry. Thank you for teaching me to be independent, and for teaching me just how much I need my family, for if I never spend time away from them, I'd never know how much they really do for me.

Lord, thank you for the laughter of my sisters, for Karen's raptor noises, for meows and "I love you"s. Thank you most of all for the joy on others' faces.

Thank you for hard work so I know what rest is. Thank you for peaceful nights of sleep. Thank you for the Campanile at night, for red palm leaves, for cool breezes, for caramel lattes.

Lord, thank you for providing a support group already in place for me when I got here. Thank you for the strength and love to help them in return. Thank you for all the new people I'm meeting, the old friends I'm remembering, and for teaching me that it's not who they are, but what they want to be. Thank you for Yueyue.

Thank you for my parents, for Eric, for Pear. Thank you for teaching me how to understand. Thank you for the tears I cry and the grief I feel. Thank you for breaking my heart for what breaks yours. Thank you for the strength to carry on. Thank you for holding my hand when I need to grit my teeth, and for carrying me when I can't walk any longer. Thank you for letters coming and going, for calligraphed envelopes and wax seals, for stationery, for love and strength in small doses.

Thank you for strength in books, in the song of the clock tower, in letters, in praying together over Facebook.

May my life be to your glory.

Amen