Kutoa Asante

What better way to celebrate our three month Tanziversary and Thanksgiving (and my "silver blog") than with a blog title written in what I can only assume is poor Kiswahili. By my understanding, “kutoa asante” literally means “to give thanks”. My apologies if for some reason it actually means something else. Anyway, I had my first real “blogger’s block” when trying to think of what to write about for this blog. Don’t get me wrong, I am more and more aware each day just how much I have to be thankful for. I guess I just wanted to write something so great that people would say, “Hey. He has all that time to think of there, and those are such interesting thoughts, we should share them with the family at Thanksgiving.” That’s not the point though, so here’s what you’re going to get: First, a brief explanation of my Tanzanian Thanksgiving to be (I’m writing this on Turkey-Day morning). Second, if you want, you can read about a couple of specific things I am thankful for. Sure it’s cliché, but reflecting on thankfulness is the closest thing I’ll be having to a normal Thanksgiving.I started my Thanksgiving by sleeping in until 7:30! There have been a ton of early mornings in a row trying to use the internet while we have power to work on the fundraiser, and I wanted to be able to be thankful for sleep. After breakfast I went and used my less-than-mediocre Swahili skills to explain to the tailor that my pants didn’t fit, and he just seemed to think it was funny and said they’d be ready tomorrow! Later this morning I’ll be watering the garden for Sr. Claudia This turned into shoveling compost into bags for a monk. There were holes in the bottom of the bags we shoveled into, but don’t worry, we tied them up with banana leaves. Trash Art!) This is taking the place of us cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner. You see, the kitchen is in charge of cooking for the entire monastic compound, and when we try to make our own small meal for a few people, sometimes it seems like an extra burden. They’re definitely fine with it, but they have seemed a little stressed lately, and Mike and I judged that it’d be best not to add to that, so instead of cooking for us, we’re helping with what they want (thus, watering the garden). We did, however, see a giant turkey on our way back from soccer with little kids in a nearby village yesterday! We weren’t sure if we were being taunted or if it was symbolic…I’m choosing the latter.After lunch will just be random work time (laundry, Spirituality section, catch up on journaling and reading). We’ve actually been pretty busy grading exams, and we’re kind of taking today easy in order to celebrate being done (the grading was quite the messy adventure…Let me just say I’m more and more thankful for the American education system, flaws and all). Anyway, this evening will be sports. We’ve been playing Tanzania vs. America in basketball, and today is an especially important day to represent our country! And yes, it is usually 8 vs. 2, and yes, Mike and I do tend to dominate. U! S! A!... Anyway, after dinner and prayer comes one of the most exciting parts. We’re combining a couple of recent packages and putting some nice Dove chocolate on some wonderful home baked cookies! I might even splurge for some mango juice!...Now, for my cliché but necessary thankfulness:1. I am so incredibly thankful for the fact that things happen “against the odds”. One of the wisest men I ever knew said, “The odds are always against the really important things.” What are the odds, he pointed out, that each of our parents would have come together at exactly the moments they did in order to make the crazy-small genetics and chemistry and biology come together in the way they did to create us exactly as we are. Of course, Br. Dietrich said this much more eloquently, but you get the idea. What are the odds that a kid who thought going to college an hour away from home was too far would live in Africa for a while? If you ask this guy, I’d tell you they are about as low as possible. However, I am so thankful for everything that God has called me to recently, and, even with the struggles, I can’t imagine anything else. I’m specifically thankful for the fact that I have still never been in a place that I wasn’t happy to be (all my schools, jobs, and now this volunteer experience). Every little thing that has happened to me and that I have done in my life could have gone a million different ways, but I am thankful that they have gone the way they have. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am a pretty darn big fan of my past and present, and I'm pretty gosh darn pumped about the future. God is good! All the time!
My second big clump of thankfulness is for all of you. Sure I'm thankful that you take the time to read my blog, but, more importantly I want to let you know that "I appreciate the role you play in my life" (see Nick Hansen). Seriously though, I cannot dream of a more phenomenal set of people to be surrounded by (physically when I'm home, as well as emotionally and through prayer). Thank you to all of you! If you have a bite of turkey in my honor, that'd be great. Just know that I will eat at least one grain of rice for each of you! God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!