thanks-givings

tonight i give-thanks for:

• Answer to prayer (see addendum to "wrestling the angel"
• The little lion purring on my lap at the moment
• Loving family members here, and all over the world
• Quality music like Innocence Mission, that can make for happily contented term paper writing
• Bosom buddy friends(JW) who do wonderfully crazy things like writing a Sonnet for me
• Old college roomies who write me while galavanting about Italy to reminisce about our days making up dance routines to silly top 40 tunes
• Fiercely loyal friends (HP) who leave lovably perplexing messages on my voice mail
• A grandfather-ish professor who tells goofy jokes in class
• A wild woman of a Mom who acts as tester for the handicap-accessible skiis at the resort where she works because she'll zip down the hills faster than any of the "normal" skiers
• Little brothers who, when they are in town, are patient with my clinginess when they visit and I want them to spend all their free time with their nerdy big sister
• An almost-20-year old brother who has already taken the initiative to take a Mercy Ship mission to Sierra Leone, works as a snowboard instructor and a photographer, volunteers for Young Life, and is planning to be a Youth Leader--oh, and he's in college in his spare time :-)
• A 21-year-old brother who has his 10-year life plan in place for being a Math teacher, pioneered an Acappela mens choir at his college, volunteers at the nursing home, and is insanely devoted to his best friend/girl friend of 3 years now
• My little sister who has always had her head squarely on her shoulders, and who was courageous enough to move to Germany to be with her boyfriend when she was done with school but he was still in his grad school program and so couldn't move to the U.S. yet
• Grandparents who don't think twice about still holding hands
• The legacy and memory of a Daddy who loved our God with all his heart, and who joked when he made his will that he couldn't go anywhere anytime soon because, after all, he had "2 daughters to walk down the aisle someday."