Old Man Morgan

To my family, friends, and anybody else who reads this – Happy Thanksgiving 2008. May you all be blessed in everything you do. May you have love, peace, and happiness. May you have good health and long life. May you find clarity of purpose and satisfaction in your life.

Obviously there is much that I could say about Thanksgiving and “giving thanks”. I could tell everybody to look at the bright side of things. I could tell everybody to ignore / shut down the issues / challenges of 2008. Of course, ignoring the 2008 challenges is not practical nor are you then able to respond appropriately. Thus, the challenge in life is to keep things into perspective.

At the risk of offending those who aren’t included in my list below, I am going to mention a few particular “challenges” that a couple of people have faced or are facing in 2008. In so doing, it is in a small way saying our hearts, prayers, and thoughts are with you – and we are confident that God already has the answer and it will be revealed in His timing.

• To my sister and brother-in-law (Norma and Tony) – who have for many years opened their home and hearts as foster parents, and have been faced with having to return a child that they kept for many years since it was a new born. Such a situation is similar to losing a child
• To my nephew (Andrew) – who will soon be entering college and will be facing many new challenges and changes
• To my oldest daughter (Chely) – who graduated high school this year and moved to the US to attend college. The changes are enormous – unless a person has been an expat, they cannot understand just how difficult of a change this is
• To my second son (Chris) – who will be graduating in December with a Theology degree, who is called to serve God and is faced with the harsh reality of needing to find a job at a time of world financial crisis
• To my first son and daughter-in-law (Josh and Liz) – who (Josh) graduated college this year and entered the world of the “working class”, having a growing family and being faced with many of the lifestyle choices we are faced with at that time
• To a close friend of my youngest son (Paul) that is Courtney – who is graduating college in December and is having to make some tough choices between work, living with family, and being away (or close) to Paul
• To a close friend of my second son (Chris) that is Stacy – Who will be on the “receiving end” of whatever choices that Chris may make. Stacy who attends Lee University may be apart from Chris.
• To my youngest daughter (Thasya) – who entered high school this year. We should never under-estimate that challenge of the teenage years, peer pressure, and horomonal changes
• To my mom and dad – who daily face the challenge of “getting older” yet continue to move forward with faith and trust in God
• To my very good friends Chris and Paul Sanchez – who are nearing decisions on retirement vs work continuation
• To my dear, dear wife and best friend (Decy) – who daily faces the challenges of trying to maintain a “near normal” quality of life in our home and around us, while at the same time trying to find self-satisfaction. And, lest we forget, she is on the front line on interfacing with my strong and sometimes “not so nice” personality
• Finally, to all the people (including me) that have faced economic setbacks as a result of the current World Financial Crisis.

The above list isn’t a “complaint list” … it is a “Halleluiah list”. I say that because I believe that for each challenge there is ALREADY an answer. Thus, none of us need to be stressed nor fearful. We need to take peace in knowing that we have a God that loves us more than anybody / anything else in this world and who has cattle on a thousand hills. And, for this …. I say THANKS !!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

ciao ciao