TIS THE SEASON, HERMANOS Y HERMANAS!!! Thanksgiving is tomorrow and is one of the most special times of the year for our missionary community, as we attempt to share such a unique and large part of our culture with our Finca community! We have mass planned at 9am, a turkey trot (which is essentially an obstacle course relay race) and a flag football game from 11am to 1pm, and a Thanksgiving meal at 2pm with all of our kids and employees. This year we decided to do grilled chicken instead of turkey for the sake of simplicity and cost, but we have most of the other Thanksgiving traditional foods: mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, bread, and apple pie. QUE VIVA!!!
Thanksgiving, especially for our new missionaries that have only been at the Finca for about 2 months, tends to be a time that missionaries really miss home and the traditions that exist within every family. However, we have an incredible day planned with all of our loved ones in this incredibly special community in rural Honduras, and everyone is excited to spend the special day together as a Finca family. It is certainly a lot of work cooking a Thanksgiving meal for 50 people given the limitations in rural Honduras and the simple life that we live at the Finca, but it is worth every amount of time and energy that we have put into it!
Thanksgiving is also about the time that my schedule eases up a little bit, and I have lots of time to enjoy being authentically Nate and being fully present more often with our Finca community and our missionary community. Things will definitely pick up again after the Christmas and New Year’s parties at the Finca, as prep will need to be started/finalized for our January missionary retreat and our three immersion groups in March. But in the meantime, I am enjoying every second of less responsibilities, and I even have time to sit back and reflect on all of the reasons that I am eternally grateful for being able to serve and live at the Finca! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I am so grateful for the pure existence of the Finca!! Ideally, every child in Honduras would be able to live with their family (or at least a family in some sort of foster care system) and places like the Finca would no longer be necessary, but the country is not even close to having enough resources to support these families and their kids. That being said, I am so grateful for the love, protection, education, healthcare, and future that the Finca provides every single one of our past, present, and future Finca kids. Many of our kids have experienced truly horrific things that no child deserves to experience, but I am grateful for a safe place that allows our children to heal and prepare for the life that God is calling them to.
I am grateful for the INCREDIBLE natural beauty of the Finca and the surrounding areas, which includes a stunning beach surrounded by beautiful mountains and lots of rivers. I am incredibly grateful every single day that I get to walk out my front door and see the expansive ocean in front of me and then walk to the Finca church while admiring the clouds surrounding the nearby mountains. I am so grateful for the breathtaking sunrises and sunsets that we are able to experience almost every single day, and that is something that I hope to never take for granted.
I am so grateful so the people that make up our Finca community, including our Finca children, tías, Franciscan Sisters, missionaries, maintenance workers, security guards, teachers, professional staff, and so many others! We truly have one big happy family here at the Finca, and it is a sensation that every single person feels so strongly during our Finca-wide parties that happen much more regularly in this culture than Americans are used to. No family is perfect and our Finca family is no exception, but we support, help, and walk with one another throughout our daily lives and that is the true mark of a family, in my opinion!!
I am so grateful for the ability to wake up every single day and do what I love as the service coordinator! Like in any job in this world, there are parts of my job that are not my favorite, but, all in all, I am so lucky and blessed to serve the Finca community and my fellow missionaries in this unique way every single day. During the busiest parts of my job throughout the year with lots of late nights and early mornings in my office, I am so grateful for the short walk from my office to the missionary house. This 20 second walk often gives me the perspective that I need to continue doing the very best that I can every single day and leave the outcomes up to God! I have grown SO, SO, SO much personally and professionally in this role, and I am so grateful every single day to become more of the person that God has called me to be.
Lastly, I am SO, SO grateful for my missionary community! Rachel, Theresa, Teddy, Isabella, Emily, and Emmet are 6 of the most incredible, servant-hearted people that I have ever met, and I am so grateful every single day to walk on this extremely difficult yet rewarding journey with them! There are certainly days where I feel more like “Nate the service coordinator” in the missionary house, but I almost always feel like I am able to be authentically and fully “Nate the missionary” while in Casa Santa Teresita.
Please pray for Emily, Isabella, and Emmet, our three new missionaries that arrived about 2 months ago! Please pray for their continued ability to adapt to the mission and to simply love the person in front of them!
Please let me know how I can pray for you!
God Bless!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!