I am also thankful that I grew up in a Christian home. Having my parents set down a solid moral foundation has done wonders to help me weather the darkest storms of my life. Including when they eventually divorced. By that time I had made my faith truly my own instead of just what my parents believed, and if I wasn't already sturdy in what I believed I may have completely lost it when I found out. Seriously, I was but a breath away from taking my car and driving north until I ran out of gas just to get away from that, potentially making a life-threatening mistake. I couldn't even talk myself out of doing it, but God could. I am so thankful for that.
I am thankful that God has been leading me to the Catholic church. This is the result of yet another dark storm of my life, when I became disillusioned with the Baptist church I had gone to since my youth. I stopped going for months, and was seriously considering giving up my faith altogether. But God compelled me to visit the local parish, and He was waiting there for me with open arms. I am now in the RCIA class, learning more about the Catholic faith and potentially becoming a full-blown Catholic. I'm still not quite sure if I'm going to do that; I still have many pressing questions and concerns about it. Nevertheless, doing this has strengthened my Christian faith even more.
I am thankful for my family. They have supported me through all of my life's twists and turns, and even after the divorce we are still in good communication. I am thankful to my dad for giving so much for all of us in the family, and for helping to supporting me through college. I am thankful to my mother for raising me up the way she did, and even though things are more strained now than before, she's still my mom and I still love her. I am thankful to my sister for being the extremely outgoing person she is. I'm not sure she knows how much she has affected me, but she has, and I love her for it. I am thankful to my brother for being the one person on this planet who truly understands me. Among a sea of people that I don't really understand, he's the one bastion who I can completely relate to.
I am thankful for the friends I have and had. They have come and gone, but I will never forget them and all that we have been through together. And for the friends that I currently have, even though I don't see them as much anymore I am still thankful for the times, sparse though they may be, where we can still hang out and do stuff together.
I am thankful that I have grown up in the United States of America. The freedom of expression is seriously one of the best things to have ever happened to humanity.
I am thankful that, no matter the situation, I am always able to find a roof over my head and a bed under me. I cannot even begin to comprehend what homeless people go through, and I am thankful that I do have a home, and that I am able to help them as well.
I am thankful that I am able to take part in leisurely activities, such as camping, hiking, running, watching movies, surfing the net, playing videogames, etc. That I live in an era where I don't have to spend my entire being trying to eke out a living is a true blessing.
I am thankful that I finally have a working car. For the longest time my old Wrangler was in and out of the shops, continually breaking down and significantly hindering my mobility. Now that I have a more reliable (and more fuel-efficient) car, that is much less of an issue.
I am thankful for all the delicious food I will stuff into my gullet come next Thursday.
I am thankful that I am able to go to college and get a degree in a field I am extremely interested in. Knowledge is power, and with the knowledge I am gaining here I can go out and make a nice life for myself.
I am thankful that we live in an age of information and knowledge rather than brute strength.
Most importantly, though, I am thankful to God. Even more than my family and especially my brother, He is the one being who knows me better than I know myself. Eve when I cannot forgive myself for what I've done, I know that He already has forgiven me, and that He loves me and cares for me. I can rest easy knowing that, in all the hardships I will endure in my life, God has it all under control. I am thankful that He has made a way for me to get to know Him through his son Jesus, and that someday when I leave this world I will be there with Him for eternity.