Gratitude Challenge: Day 28

I have decided to spend the month of November focusing on thankfulness. To help me with this challenge, I signed up to receive a daily prompt from the Day One journal app, encouraging me to write about something I am thankful for. I will, of course, aim to pair the daily journal entry with a photo.

Here is today’s prompt:

What is a place I feel grateful to have visited?

There are so many places I have had the pleasure of visiting. God is good! I could honestly write about dozens of places I feel grateful to have visited. But to make today’s challenge a little more interesting and insightful, I thought it would be fun to ask the rest of the Polen family to write about a place they feel grateful to have visited.

Here is what they wrote (along with snapshots that someone took along the way):

EDEN: I am thankful that we got to go to Indianapolis because we were able to see World War monuments.  We were able to to go to this park that had all fifty flags.  It had 25 on one side, and then on the other side, the next 25.  There was also a fountain in the middle that if you put a penny in, then it would disappear.  We got to see a large building that was a museum.  It had a lot of steps up and down.  After we climbed the steps, we went to Panera Bread.  Piper and I got to have a really good croissant, and we ate it very fast, and then we got to go to a mall that us kids were not used to, and then dad finished his race.

ELIJAH: I am thankful we got to go to New Mexico because of all the people there. They were so much fun to be with and play with. I also liked the food every day. It was so delicious. My favorite food we had there was the donut. Other than the food I also thought that just New Mexico and the way there was super fun. We started by going on vacation and then went through a lot of states to get to New Mexico. We also got to go to Dude Perfect Headquarters on the way there. That was SUPER fun. I really enjoyed going to New Mexico.

PIPER: One of my favorite places that we’ve visited is Boston, MA. Dad ran the Boston marathon there and while he was running mom and I went for a walk in a park called the Boston public garden. They had many statues of presidents and other important people. It was really cool to see everything and to learn about the city. After the marathon we also visited Plymouth, where we were able to see a replica of the Mayflower. We were also able to see Plymouth Rock. It was a really fun trip and I enjoyed spending it with my family.

ABIGAIL: I am very grateful for the times we have been able to go to Topsail Island, NC as a family. It is a special place to me because we have so many fun memories with our cousins and grandparents there. It is also the place where I was baptized. Being able to go on a vacation with our family is a privilege that I am very thankful for and I will never forget all the fun times we have had there together.

TAYLOR: One of the places I’m most grateful to have visited is Kenya. I’m thankful for the wonderful people I got to meet and hang out with, and for the things I was able to experience in an African culture. Most of all, I’m thankful for the generous donations of people who supported my trip. If you contributed, thank you!

JODI: I’m grateful I’ve had the opportunity to visit Israel. To be in the same place where Jesus walked on this earth is absolutely incredible. My time there has given me a different perspective on some of the things that I read in the Bible, bringing the stories to life in my mind. I’ve also met some amazing people on the trips that I’ve taken there, and I’m thankful for that! 

JEFF: One of the places I am most grateful to have visited this past year is San Fransisco. That was the furthest west I have ever been, and it has always been a dream of mine to get to the west coast. I had the privilege of partnering in ministry with Steve & Suzanne Suh, and their amazing ministry team. I also got to teach at Zane Black’s Life School and lead a random worship time on the beach in Santa Cruz. But one of the the things I am most grateful about regarding the trip is how I got there. I was supposed to meet my wife at the airport in San Francisco early Friday morning (she was flying out to meet me from Ohio, and I was flying in from Portland, OR), but my flight was canceled. I booked another flight, but it was hopelessly delayed. It looked like there was no way I could get to San Francisco. I couldn’t get an Uber to pick me up, and I couldn’t change my tickets to get on a flight that would get me to San Francisco on time. Then, in an act of selfless heroism, an amazing guy that I had just met the night before offered to drive me to the airport (in his Lamborghini, no less), and he personally paid for me to be on a flight that would get me to Oakland, CA in time to meet my wife before our weekend of ministry with the Suhs began. It was AMAZING, and I am so grateful.