Thankful.

Today is the last day of November and I really wanted to make a Thanksgiving post before it was too far away to do one. I just got back from Galilee (so amazing) and I will blog about it later. This post is dedicated to the things I am grateful for.

Thanksgiving. I have spent the last 3 Thanksgivings away from home (2 in Hawaii, now one in Galilee.) I've gotten use to not having Thanksgiving with my family and it's really not that big of a deal for me. Thanksgiving has turned into a time for me to reflect back on the year and recognize my blessings because I really am SO BLESSED. Here are five blessings that really stood out to me in Galilee.

1) Water. I LOVE water. My love runs strong for it. Being in Galilee seriously did wonders for my soul. We stayed literally right on the sea and being able to look out towards the water everyday was sooooo therapeutic. My best thoughts/ideas come from staring out into the water. I see God's beauty in it and the last thing I do before I leave Hawaii or any where with water, is put my feet in the ocean and reflect. I did that in Galilee and it's a night and memory that I will hold on to for a very long time. So grateful for the opportunity to live by the beach again starting in January.

2) Technology. This has been such a blessing, especially here in Jerusalem. There are days where I really just needed to talk to my family or best friends and I was so incredibly grateful for phone calls/skype seshs/text messages/voxer/whatever else we would use to communicate halfway around the world. Hearing/seeing someone who knows you so well, is just so wonderful. I have the best support system and I am grateful for those who have kept in touch with me and care about my well being. I have the best family and friends around. Seriously.

3) Jerusalem. Words cannot express how I feel about this place. I was gone in Galilee for 11 days, and coming back to the center was pure happiness. I LOVED Galilee, but I really had no idea how much I really missed this place until I walked in the doors with my suitcase, being greeted by our faculty and seeing everything decorated Christmas. We all ate Thanksgiving dinner together and being reunited with Jerusalem and everyone was complete bliss. I was so so happy. I am sincerly going to miss living in the Jerusalem Center. I have the best roommates, friends and have met the best people here. Jerusalem holds a special place in my heart and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to live here for a semester. Jerusalem has so much to offer and the experience and culture is something I hold dear and will remember the rest of my life.

4) Kindness. This one hurts my pride a little bit, but I'm going to write it because it really taught me a lesson. There was one day in Galilee where I was not feeling well at all. We were on an all day field trip and we were taking these shuttles up to a church. I was starting to get sick and motion sickness hit me hard while going through an extremely windy road driven by some random shuttle guy who sped through the whole way up. It wasn't a terribly long ride, but it was enough to mess with my head. When I got off, I was definitely not myself and it was incredible to see how many people responded and helped me. I cannot express how grateful I was that people were so attentive to me. They grabbed me water, dramamine, made sure I had a front seat going back down, scratched my back, everything. I am surrounded by genuinely kind people here and it taught me to be more responsive to those who are in need. So grateful for those who looked out for me that day, and everyday, knowing that they will drop anything to help me. Really taught me to be aware of those around me.

5) Opportunities. I am so blessed to have had so many opportunities come my way and be able to take advantage of them. This year alone, I was able to live in Hawaii, island hop to Maui, go to NYC and live in Jerusalem/Turkey, Jordan, Galilee/go to all these cool places since living here. Having these experiences have shaped who I am today and how I view the world. Traveling is so awesome. I am so grateful for where I have been thus far in my life and can't wait to see where I will go next year and the years to come.

Life just keeps getting better and better. I am so content and satisfied. I am filled with an attitude of gratitude and hope to continue to find time to reflect to remember my blessings. Galilee gave me that time to reflect and progress into a better person. So so blessed. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.