Jim and his family send you Holiday greetings and best wishes for 2008!  We know 2009 is going to be another unforgettable year!!!

December is the time of year that all of us spend time with family and friends, and it is a time we remember the many blessings that we have received each day throughout the year.  One of our wishes for you to is that this Holiday Season is not the only time that is only focused on a few days in December, but actually everyday throughout the year.  There are so many grateful moments that we need to pay attention to each day!  There are people to love, to serve, and even to just take a moment and listen to that will improve whatever condition they are in.  There is a quote I really like, “If you are wondering if your mission in life is complete, it is not if you are still alive.”  Below is a prayer that we will be using at our Holiday celebration dinner.  Make a copy of it and review it from time to time.  It means a lot to us.

Dear God, this is the Season of getting together with our loved ones; feast, toast, enjoy the blessings of life – and give thanks.  Thanks for life all around us, under foot, and overhead.

Thanks for the ability to remember the things that we love as well as to forget how much we’ve been hurt. Thanks for fine young bodies and old, venerable minds; for sun on our faces, the rain on the roof, and the food on the table grown by people we don’t even know.  

Thanks that the jets overhead aren’t dropping their bombs, that our healing hands have a place to practice, that children are born every minute of the day, and that death is there to gather us up at the end. And thanks for at least a few days a year when we all take the time to get some perspective.

 We send our best wishes for a wonderful Tropical Holiday Season with your dear family and friends!  Until next time…fair winds for 2009!!!