Thanksgiving

Hello!


Today was such a fantastic day. I finally got my Visa after a lot of stress, phone calls to the Embassy, and just general chaos. That process is really not as easy as it could be. That shouldn't be surprising though. So, I am officially heading to Ghana in 9 days!!! I cannot believe that I am in the single digits of my countdown. To answer your question, no. I haven't started packing yet. I don't even know where to start with that process. Good thing I'm a pro packer (Christine can attest to that). 


Yesterday I got to spend the whole day in Columbus seeing a ton of my friends that I probably won't see again until August. It was so wonderful. The best part of the day was walking into the Newman Center in the middle of the day and while walking through the main sanctuary being able to say to myself "Welcome Home." I didn't realize how at home I feel at the Newman Center until I was away from it and back in Sidney. I was met with so many smiles and hugs, just as usual. The Catholic community at Ohio State is amazingly strong. The Holy Spirit is doing some serious business there. 

This is what the Newman Center community looks like...Definitely one of my favorite pictures.

I had the joy of listening to my friend, Matt, give a talk about thanksgiving at Holy Grounds. To my surprise, we did not reenact the kindergarten scene with pilgrims and indians... Instead, we talked about how blessed we are to have all that we do and how we need to spend a lot more time thanking God rather than asking God. This is something I have thought about a lot recently. The night truly inspired me and I spent the whole drive home praying and thanking God for every single person/thing/place I am thankful for...starting with the 2 hour talk I had with Kate, Christine, Katie, Paige and Andrew. 

This is Matt and I on Buckeye Awakening 6! So thankful for him and how he witnesses joy every day.

This is Christine, my roommate for next year and beautiful Awakening mother. I am thankful for her each and every day of my life. Not sure where or who I would be without her.

These are my lovely parents. So thankful for their love and support. Not to mention how much they have sacrificed to give me the life I have today.

I really wish I could put pictures of every single person I am thankful for, but that would be boring for all of you and extremely time consuming. So, that's all I've got for now. Sorry about the lack of exciting news! In 9 days I will be able to post all about long flights, airplane peanuts, and smelly people in enclosed spaces. Looking forward to it! Thank you so much for all of the continued prayers. I am thankful for each and every one of you. 

With Much Love,

Steph