This year I’m thankful for . . .
The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the church, my family, my friends, vanilla lattes and mochachinos, chicken and cheese enchiladas (my mom makes the best!), ceviche, a cappella singing, jazz, swing and salsa music, yerba mate, los panas, Caribbean beaches, language acquisition, all-night flights, paying for excess baggage, dodging thieves in Caracas, the overcrowded subway, trials and temptations.
I am thankful for the good and the bad because all of these things are a part of the life that God has blessed me with! Either way, there won’t be any crime or overbooked flights in heaven. God’s blessings, provision and providence remind us of His goodness! The negative things in our lives remind us of our need for Him!
Today I am sad because I am far away from my family, 5,460 miles to be exact. But I am also thankful because I will have lunch today with Christian friends and family from four different countries in Buenos Aires where I will begin working this coming year. Jesus has been faithful to His promise in Mark 10:29-30.
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
Happy Thanksgiving, lots of love from South America and happy eating!
Jonathan Hanegan 