Turkey Day in Turkey & the Start of Christmas

This past week I celebrated Thanksgiving with so many great friends that we had not one, but two Thanksgiving celebrations!

First Thanksgiving Celebration...and yes, that 7-Layer Salad in the top left corner has BACON ON IT!

We had turkey, which actually isn't a very common food in Turkey believe it or not, and all the other Thanksgiving favorites (and yes, I must mention again, there was bacon...my first pork in 3 months!).

We have a lot we are thankful for...

These include, but are not limited to: Turkey in Turkey, "everyone I met here, especially HIM",  music, family and friends, wassel (long story), celebrations, 7 Wonders (I think in reference to the board game..), BACON, a warm home, pumpkin, and "not falling far from the tree"(the little red leaf at the bottom left of the page).

After our meal, we did something that I haven't done on Thanksgiving before; we sang worship songs together. Our hostesses accompanied on piano and guitar, and we belted out our praises to God. It was such an amazing time, I really can't even put into words how it felt. But one thing is for sure: God has really shown me over the past few months that HE is always right by my side. I sang that night in utter awe, thankfulness, and amazement as I thought about how great HE is.

Two days later, on Saturday, we had an even larger celebration with tons of our Turkish friends as well, and it was so much fun to see them eat traditional Thanksgiving food for the first time. And, as you can imagine, "You are eating your/my country" was spoken many times that day. We also played Nertz (which I know thanks to my housemates from my summer in Washington DC), and watched "The Ultimate Gift", a really heart-felt movie that went perfect with Thanksgiving. And, to end the night, we had a bath-tub party to wash all the dishes (this only happened because the sink clogged...it was totally hygienic, I promise...we even sang The Happy Working Song while we worked, which made it so much fun!). 

If you are a reader in the USA, you are probably starting to get into the Christmas mood, and I am too. I've been playing some of my favorite Christmas songs, like "Snow Globe" and "Christmas this Year."  But, this year is really different for me because I am in a country where the majority of people do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Savior. A few Christmas trees can be spotted at the malls, and icicle lights are hanging around some larger restaurants, but these (and Santa too) have all been integrated into New Year's celebrations and festivities. Unless you are at one of the few churches in Istanbul, you won't be seeing any Nativity scenes. No crosses. No reminders of what this holiday is really all about. In one aspect, this has made it even more important to me to focus on the reason for Christmas instead of all about gift-giving and stuff that is focused in on the States. On the other hand, it has shown me what life without Christmas looks like. It seems like such a joke in the USA, you know, "the Grinch stole Christmas," and all of that, but we don't often think about the fact that many countries around the world don't have the hope that is so visible throughout the States at Christmas time. For a lot of people, like many here, there is no Christmas because there is no reason to celebrate. This hurts my heart, as Christmas celebrates the day that has forever changed my life. It's not about "keeping the Christmas spirit alive", like so many movies such as Elf seem to think is important; it is all about telling people of the hope in Jesus that makes every day worth living.

On that note, please go check out www.mygfa.org/faithfulnomad/ to see my thoughts on another country that also needs our help throughout the year - India. 

Thanks for reading, and until next time, "Gorusuruz!" (talk to you later).