Thanksgiving in Spain

No American football on TV; no elementary school kids dressed up like pilgrims, Indians, or turkeys; no Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. But the absence of all of those things didn't keep us from celebrating Thanksgiving here! Interestingly, many Spaniards (or the ones we know, anyway) have some idea of what Thanksgiving is, probably based on the American shows and movies they've seen here. But, of course, American Thanksgiving is not an official holiday in Spain, so we had to carve out some personal time to be able to celebrate it by heading up to Madrid to spend the weekend with Rachel's family and a few other missionary families. For our Thanksgiving meal we had quite a feast, although we had chicken instead of turkey (cheaper and easier to find), and it's next to impossible to find French's fried onions to sprinkle on top of the green bean casserole. Even so we had so much classic Thanksgiving food, from mashed potatoes and gravy to a number of other casseroles to pumpkin pie (had to import the processed pumpkin stuff) that we almost forgot that we live in Spain.

We are so thankful to God for so many ways that He has provided in our life, and more specifically, in our new life here in Spain. We are thankful to have family within a 4 1/2 hour drive; we are thankful for our ECMI team that we are becoming a part of; we are thankful for family in the States who have sacrificed physical closeness so that we can follow God's leading in our lives; we are thankful for how God continues to provide for our physical and spiritual needs through the financial and prayer support of family, friends, churches, and people that we've never even met in person. We are most thankful.