dankeschön!

-Successfully cooking my first entire Thanksgiving dinner at Andrea and Tilmann's, taking one bite and sighing with joy that it tasted just like home. I made turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, cinnamon-roasted butternut squash and broccolini with pancetta and chestnuts. Yum! It's a wonderful thing to have people to cook for, and we all had a great time. A skype video call with my family was especially fun: they saw my friends, we got to catch up and my friends even hummed the national anthem in the background to be silly. It was great. (I'll try to get some pictures up soon.)

-Walking through the park on a sunny, chilly day and enjoying the bright blue sky, crisp air and music pumping through my iPod.

-A very relevant lectionary reading today.

Also, I intended to include a little Thanksgiving prayer yesterday, so I'll give it to you today. It's from the Iona community.

O God, for your love for us, warm and brooding,

which has brought us to birth and opened our eyes

to the wonder and beauty of creation,

WE GIVE YOU THANKS.

For your love for us, wild and freeing,

which has awakened us to the energy of creation:

to the sap that flows,

the blood that pulses,

the heart that sings.

WE GIVE YOU THANKS.

For your love for us, compassionate and patient,

which has carried us through our pain,

wept beside us in our sin,

and waited with us in our confusion,

WE GIVE YOU THANKS.

For your love for us, strong and challenging,

which has called us to risk for you,

asked for the best in us,

and shown us how to serve.

WE GIVE YOU THANKS.

O God we come to celebrate

that your Holy Spirit is present deep within us,

and at the heart of all life.

Forgive us when we forget your gift of love

made known to us in Jesus,

and draw us into your presence.