So, January has come to an end, which means that 2016 is well and truly underway, with different ministries gearing up ready to go. Still, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of the things I am grateful for this month.
1) My family
I am extremely grateful for my family this month. I was grateful to be able to spend time with my immediate family over my birthday and my dad's birthday. I was grateful for the opportunity to spend time hanging out with my middle sister before she headed overseas for a year. I was grateful for how welcoming they were of my housemate when she came to spend a couple of days with us for my birthday. I am grateful that my parents have a very open-handed, God-trusting attitude towards raising the three of us. Especially as it means that middle-sister is able to spend a year serving God in some wonderfully diverse places around the world with a wonderfully diverse team of people, while youngest-sister spent 10 days serving in Cambodia.
I was grateful to be able to spend some time catching up with extended family, especially the cousins that live in Bali. It was a joy to spend a little bit of time getting to know them better. I am also very grateful for how supportive they always are of my immediate family - even though our beliefs and attitudes towards life and the things that matter are fairly radically different.
2) My housemates
I am super grateful for my housemates this month. Particularly my name-sharer. I had a great time hanging out with her at my family home, watching her cram three visits to Yogurtland and 9 (she thinks maybe 12) different flavours into three days with us. I enjoyed watching k-drama, swapping stories and laughing over silly things. I'm grateful that my housemates are such awesome people that I've missed them when we've all been away on holidays. I'm so super keen to spend time hanging out with them, sharing life and faith with them this year. I'm also really looking forward to getting to know the newest addition to our household better.
3) My church
I have to admit, all the time I've spent away from home this month has really highlighted to me just how grateful I am for my church. I found myself wishing each Sunday I was away that I could go (and ended up leaving beach mission for a couple of hours so that I could...), have deeply missed catching up with many of the women and children there and have loved the time I have spent hanging out with some of the families there. I loved being able to host a dinner and an afternoon tea for a couple of the families. I am grateful for and encouraged by the time I've spent hanging out with the minister's family, as well as for my chats with him and his wife. The wisdom, godliness and spirit of support and encouragement in the church is so uplifting. I am eternally grateful that God brought me to this church family, and am keen to serve God alongside them this year.
4) Old friends
I was very grateful for the myriad of opportunities I had to catch up with old friends this month. Friends from school, church and Year 13. I was particularly grateful for the opportunity I had to get to know an old high school acquaintance and her new husband better, as well as the opportunity I had to catch up with my Austrian Year 13 friend. It is a constant source of delight to see how time and distance do not necessarily mean friendships will be lost. And it is always so reassuring to see that when God is the foundation of a friendship, then the relationships will last for eternity, no matter what happens here and now.
So, those are 4 things I am thanking God for this month. What about you?
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