Giving Thanks, Part 1

Dear Tauna and Natalee,

Since you two are among my most faithful readers, I know this will reach you: I am sorry to both of you for not responding to your letters. Here I have these two friends who have decided to bring back the art of letter writing in the digital age, and I have royally dropped the ball. I humbly apologize, and promise to write to you both - on paper - soon.

My excuse is generic, but true: Life has been crazy busy these days.

Last weekend was filled with the Chris Tomlin concert, a visit from Hollan to see Tori Amos (we wound up with front row seats!), and a visit from my parents and Natalie to join Charlotte and Matt(hew) and I at Spamalot. And that was just last weekend alone.

This past week/end I had work-related events at the Rose and the Joslyn; a girls' night that involved Fazoli's, Princess crowns, a gerber daisy and falling asleep to Elf on Tabitha's couch; and Charlotte's parents and brother were in town from Colorado.

As if that weren't enough, our life group decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner Sunday night out at Jordan's Place. In the midst of all the activity, it was nice to just be, to sit around with good friends, good fun, and good foosball.

I know it's very cliche of me to write about being thankful at Thanksgiving time, but I am. Sunday night was absolutely lovely. It was fun to get dressed up, to share a meal, and to be in fellowship. The women were in charge of the food (congrats to Beth and Charlotte on an excellent turkey) and the guys were in charge of the entertainment. They orchestrated a game of biblical charades (you would've loved it, Tauna!) and brought a couple of gingerbread house kits for us to assemble. Charlotte, Tabitha and I worked on one together, and it was fun to get messy with the frosting! Our poor house had trouble staying together, but this was one case where the process was definitely more important than the product.

I've always felt there is something rather grown-up about celebrating holidays with friends. We are all now at an age when we can choose, in a sense, the family that we surround ourselves with. I always enjoyed the Sunday before Thanksgiving at Mount Mercy, when we would all dress up and head over to Hennessey for a communal dinner. I think of senior year, when Staci Mae, Emily, Tauna and I stayed in our apartment over Christmas break longer than most and ushered in Christmas together with movie marathons, a living nativity on Collins Road, and a big pot of spaghetti. Whether they're in Omaha, in Iowa, in Minnesota, or elsewhere, I am so thankful for the family of friends that God has given me.

And that's all there is to it.