i am thankful for: brothers & sisters

So, I promised a more substantial entry today...and I guess this is somewhat more substantial, but we'll see. I realize my writing abilities have gone down since I entered college...

I realized sometime last week that I recently haven't had many praises on my lips. It's been a lot of moaning and groaning about how much work I have, how little sleep I get, how unfair certain people/things/circumstances are, how horribly I lack, how noticeably larger I feel LOL, how one meal is unfulfilling or tastes yucky, etc etc etc. But now that Thanksgiving is in a few more days, I've decided that perhaps I need to reflect upon some of the things/people I'm thankful for (as cheesy and elementary-school-esque that sounds).

To the brothers:

Thank you for being such an encouragement, especially yall 2012ers who keep up with Guys' Prayer. It's been such a blessing to see you grow over the past two years, and I am so happy that you really make an effort to spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

As for all the brothers, younger and older and same-age, thank you for just being you. I think I came to the realization that our brothers do three very sacrificial things on a regular basis: 1) they carry heavy things for you, 2) they walk you home, and 3) they eat (leftover) food that you don't want to eat or you can't eat; and while those things might seem really trivial/shallow, I think that's pretty awesome. Couple that with the more "substantial" things like helping with homework, listening to prayer requests and praying for you, and uplifting with words and actions - dang, this church has some amazing brothers in Christ. Thank you :)

To the sisters:

Thank you for being the Christ-centered sisters I missed out on while growing up in the church. I am constantly in awe of your hearts for God and His kingdom, of your willingness to sacrifice (especially for those who are younger) and to be humbled and grow, of your crazy beauty inside and out. To those in 2012, I can't tell you how thankful I am that I have a network of same-age sisters that I know I can rely on and run this race with - it's something I really lacked in the 18 years before I came to Penn.

To younger and older sisters, thank you for loving me and for willing to be loved. I'm really not the best sister to sisters, especially younger sisters, and I'm scared of this lacking, but all of yall (i.e. including 2012) give me hope that maybe I can help build meaningful sister relationships that will last a lifetime and beyond ♥

P. Dave talked in servants' meeting two Saturdays ago about creating/thinking of moments where we can step back and think, "This is church." This is what church is all about - not just the love of the Father and the grace of Jesus Christ, but also the fellowship of the Holy Spirit which allows for such divine relationships such as these.

And these days, when I study with the freshmens or I meet up with my discipleship sister or I catch up with a brother, there are many times when I step back and think, This is church. I really can't help but smile and thank God because this is the real deals. This love, this accountability, this encouragement - the real deals. This is church. Foreals, yo. Fo. Reals.