Nathan Milner

is my boss... among other things. A great guy is one of those things. As is a Canadian. Last Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. He wanted to celebrate it with us. It was fantastic. Among other things, it made me feel a little bad. I've been really whiny lately. Some would say justifiably so, but it still doesn't sit right. So, I wanted to make a list of things I'm thankful for this year. I need visual reminders sometimes.

1. I've been able to attend school at IWU debt free.
2. I have great professors who care about me as a person.
3. I have a lot of great friends.
4. My car (though it may be old) is a reliable form of transportation.
5. My health has been near perfect.
6. God has cared enough about me to draw me closer to Him.
7. I now own a guitar and I'm getting better at playing every day.
8. I have two parents who love me very much.
9. I've been able to play a full contact sport for the first time in 4 years.
10. God lead me out of an unhealthy relationship.
11. God gave me an incredible, 5 month relationship with a beautiful woman of God and used it (as well as the breakup, painful though it has been) to teach me more than at any other time in my life (obviously this is not the same relationship that was talked about in 10).
12. I've been able to join a small accountability/bible study group of men.
13. I have an adult mentor. :-)
14. I've been able to open up and be honest about myself.
15. I have fantastic residents.
16. God has furthered my vision of my life calling.
17. I've been able to overcome most of my inferiority issues.
18. My grades really haven't been that bad.
19. I get to teach 10 - 20 amazing kids about Jesus every Sunday.
20. I finally am a part of a church again, not just a church-goer.
21. I have a wonderful aunt and uncle five minutes off-campus who love me very much and treat me better than I deserve.
22. It's only October... He's not done yet.

There's a lot more, but I don't want to bore you. Also, I need to go on a round and then it's time for small group. I think this post is much more for me than for any of you. However, I would challenge each of you to make your own list. It never hurts to praise God for the wonderful things He's gifted us with. Indeed, it is right that we should do so.