Welcome!

Welcome to my blog, “Profiteor”! This will be the location where I will post updates, photos, and newsletters before, during, and after my year of service in the United Kingdom through the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), so please check in periodically to receive the most recent news.

Now, some of you may be wondering about the name of my blog (I hope you find it an intriguing title). “Profiteor” (pronounced pro-fee-tay-oar) is Latin for three different English verbs: I confess, I profess, and I praise, and these three meanings are the reason I chose “Profiteor” as the title instead of something a little more obvious. During my next year in the United Kingdom, I will be posting periodically entries and photos which will do exactly what the title suggests. I will be confessing my struggles and misconceptions; the emotions and experiences I do not yet know of. I will be professing my triumphs, learning moments, and whatever else might happen in a year. Finally I will be praising God’s glory and love experienced in the most mundane aspects of life, thousands of miles from where I grew up. These are the reasons for the unusual title, and how it will frame my future posts.

Monday, November 3, 2014

An Unconventional Thanksgiving: November 1-3

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in England.  It is one of the subjects that I am asked about lately, along with Halloween (which is by most Christians here), since it is something they hear about but do not know.  The questions are usually followed by "So are you going to host an American Thanksgiving?"  We may have a pie tasting night with my life group or a YAGM belated Thanksgiving in mid December.

Despite this, I will not be having a conventional Thanksgiving.  I won't be with my relatives, nor will I be cooking with my dad in the kitchen for the better part of a day.  So this year I won't be having a Thanksgiving that results in a turkey induced coma, however that is not what the day is about.  It's about taking time to appreciate everything we have been given from a plethora of food to the love of our family and everything in between.  When I was younger my mom would cut up a paper grocery bag and post it on our kitchen wall, and each day she would ask my brothers and I what we were thankful for that day.  This would continue for the November 1 all the way until Thanksgiving.  Since I will not be having a conventional, I will have an unconventional Thanksgiving by posting what I am thankful for each day.  I was at a weekend away with my youth until yesterday with no internet, so I will be giving thanks for the first three days.


November 1

All Saints Day is the time to remember your deceased loved ones and give thanks for the lessons and light they brought to your life. My Grandma Dorothy who passed away just before her birthday this year.  She is dearly missed, and she showed the strength to keep fighting even when she must have been completely worn out.

Today I give thanks for my Grandma Hynek.
Grandma and me


November 2

Today we just arrived back from our youth weekend away at the Beacon at Lee Abbey in North Devon.  It was four days of activities on the absolute gorgeous Atlantic coast of England.  We mountain boarded, rock climbed, and went on long walks through the Valley of the Rocks where feral goats roamed.  Today I am thankful for the youth, who I am blessed to watch grow in their spiritual lives and their confidence.  We had a three hour worship service, which only ended because the musicians were too tired to continue playing, and I was able to see the personalities and talents that are not shown during the one hour segments I see them during the week.

Today I am thankful for the youth with whom I work.

The view of the Bristol Channel


November 3

Growing Leaders, a leadership development course my placement provides, happens on the first Monday of every month.  Four of my co-workers are taking the same course, so we have started a great tradition of cooking and eating dinner together.  It is a time to hang out, relax, and create a friendship in a village where most of us are brand new.  It is also a time for my German roommate and I to try to live up to the wonderful English hospitality we have received.  

Today I am thankful for the monthly Monday meal.

My co-workers and I during our monthly meal (Photo credit: Perry)


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1 comment:

  1. DalaNovember 3, 2014 at 3:58 PM

    Sunday the family gathered for brunch and we wrote what we were thankful for on a grocery bag. And we were thinking of you, sweet Elise.

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