Count your blessings, name them one by one

In one of my "oh my gosh I'm turning into my dad" moments, the words of this old hymn came into my mind. Wait. On second thought, I don't think it was an "oh my gosh I'm turning into my dad" moment - more of a "I've heard my dad preach so many times" moment, because the funny thing is I don't even KNOW this song, but I remembered the lyrics to it. And... oh my gosh, I'm rambling. Stop. Josh. Stop. Okay. So these are the words:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

And at the end of the term, 10th week, I thought that this would be a great thing to do. While I will certainly not be able to remember everything that happened, I'm going to chronicle whatever does come into my mind, beginning with this past week I suppose.

Caedmon's Call

Yeah! Caedmon's Call came to Lakeville, MN!! I know! And a big group of us went up to see them live in concert. BUT. I didn't get to go. I stayed back for Sola Scriptura, and also because I felt that I didn't necessarily have to jump at everything... and I thought I would prefer an easy night rather than driving up to Lakeville and back. So okay, not exactly stellar excuses. But where's the blessing in this, you may ask. And I will tell you.

Well, when they got back, a couple of us were hanging out in the basement of Parish. And guess what Erica got me? Well, don't guess. I'll show you!  
Yes, it's a 100% original AUTOGRAPHED (by Cliff Young) copy of Caedmon's Call latest album... with MY NAME ON IT! :) Heh heh. Thanks, Erica, you're awesome!

Thanksgiving: Why should it only be on the last Thursday of November?

Last Saturday, Will and Cully Craig (some of you have seen the picture with me and the two boys - those are their sons, James and Liam - I love them!! :)) invited a bunch of international students from the Christian community to their place to share in a thanksgiving meal with them.

At the Craig's for thanksgiving.

Crazy naga attacking bread

Will attacking the turkey

Besides the scrumptilicious food and edifying time of fellowship around the table, it reminded me of the importance of being thankful - not just for the BIG things that happen, but for the little things that we take for granted every day. Like getting up for class, being late, and running outside, and while unlocking your bike, suddenly pausing to see what was rustling the fallen leaves... and to find the plumpest squirrel scampering about in the last days of fall. Or walking home on a brisk night, and looking up and stopping to witness the wonder of God in the stars and the night sky... regardless of the Northern Lights. Or for the very fact that there I was halfway around the planet, thousands of miles from home, and yet I felt at home in the midst of people who loved God and showed the love of God to me.

Exit 69: The Fall Concert

And on that note, a big thank you to my legion of "fans" who came to the concert to show their support and love. I was immensely blessed. My "entourage" as Tyler put it made up probably more than three rows in the concert hall. And all the notes and messages of encouragement and excitement - Ming Mei sent me an email with six CONTINUOUS lines of "Josh's concert! Josh's concert! Josh's concert!" on the day of my concert. And for the embarassing shout outs... "You're hot, Josh" "Yeah he is" "Yeah Josh" *grin*

Exit in concert

But thank you for doing that. And for being there. I love you all.

And for the friendships that I have made here that I am so undeserving of. For the love shown to me and the acceptance and encouragement given to me. Thank you all.

And for the ma po to fu, Tyler. :)

Truly, count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.