Sunday, November 21, 2010

Thanksgiving Potluck (and a shower in our kitchen!)

"Rejoice Always" (1 thessalonians 5:16) When my heart is in a constant state of rejoicing, praising the Lord for his abundant blessings, I instantly become MORE aware of the small ways God is moving in my daily life....all of the things I am grateful for.

When Jeff and I started dating (when we were 19!) we started a
Blessing Book. The Blessing Book was a daily compilation of ways the Lord had blessed us on that specific day. I truly believe that it's good for the heart to rejoice in all events daily life brings you. So, I'm committing to write down at least one thing I rejoice in on a daily basis - one thing I am grateful for. Sometimes I may rejoice in the pain, because the Lord is teaching me something good. Somedays I will rejoice in the beautiful things.

Today, I rejoice in the community the Lord has blessed us with.
I rejoice in the fact that the Lord has brought me from my beloved home in Detroit, from my "comfort zone", to New York so I can fully know what it's like to have a community of friends that love the Lord and love me.


On Saturday, Jeff and I welcomed 7 of our dear friends (9 including us!) to a Thanksgiving Potluck at our home. Fully anticipating the delicious food and a great time, we were NOT anticipating the free-flowing stream of water from our hot water heater just as our guests arrived.


Our hot water heater and boiler are conveniently (or not-so-conveniently) locked in a closet located in our kitchen. Jeff and I have had several problems with our hot water heater and boiler. When I first told my dad about our issues, his first reaction was, "Get renters insurance. I think your hot water heater may explode. We had this problem at our old house." Hmmm...


Our Super and Landlord have been to our apartment 6 times (in the 40 days that we have lived here) to "fix" the issue. Initially, we noticed that our hot water heater was not appropriately warming up. After that issue had been dealt with, and it was cold enough to switch on our heat, a high-pitched alarm sound filled our apartment (once every five seconds, BEEP!) Ahh, we thought our issues were solved once the beeping was terminated.


but we were wrong.


On Saturday afternoon while Jeff, Dan and I prepared some delectable food, we heard a shower-like stream coming from the closet where our hot water heater and boiler are held. We immediately called our Super and Landlord ("THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! COME NOW!") The ladies who live below us knocked on our door wondering why there was water coming through their kitchen ceiling. yuck. to make a long-story (semi)short, we ended up forming a line through out kitchen to empty and fill the buckets of water that flowed from our hot water heater while our Super attempted to "cap" the problem. To say the least, our Super had a shower in our kitchen.

Grateful for our dear friends who helped us sop up the dirty water on our floors, our delicious thanksgiving potluck was not negatively affected by this unfortunate event. we enjoyed some yummy deep-friend cajun chicken from
jive turkey, a sweet-potato casserole, a green-bean casserole, corn bread, homemade cranberry sauce, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, homemade macaroni and cheese, a big salad AND mexican corn. Jeff is in leftover heaven.


jeff and dan carving the turkey



the turkey was so delicious, we kept stealing "bites" of it before it was time to actually sit down for dinner


get it, girl

israel taking a stab at turkey-carving



hydie and i pickin' at the goods!


Feast

engrossed in the television..post-dinner food coma

end of the night...i was already sleeping...everyone looks so tired!

Thanks Lydia, Alfredo, Hydie, Dan, Cathy, Israel and Brittany :)

As thanksgiving quickly approaches, I just want to encourage you to REJOICE ALWAYS - if you have fallen on tough times, I promise that the Lord is teaching you something good. If you are loving life right now, be grateful and look for ways to bless others.

Much Love.

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