Thanksgiving blog

Hey all,

For some of us, it has been a hard year. But Thursday is Thanksgiving, and I think we need to think about it in the big picture.

Let's just look at our lives from a 5,000 ft view. We live in America, for crying out loud. China has been in the news lately for wanting to be the leader in the world's economy and it may happen someday but... it is China. They have like 3 billion people living there. But they are not FREE people.

We are FREE. Think about that a second. Free to practice dentistry anyway we want. Free to write blogs. Free to have as many kids as we want. Free to worship any God we want (try worshipping Jesus in Saudi Arabia and see how that works out for you). Free to talk about our government (try this in North Korea). Free to talk bad about other countries (haha). But seriously, this is a great thing.

Dentistry has been very, very good to me (and I know it has been good to you).
Think about it...

We choose our own hours. We work in air conditioning. We work with people that we choose. We work on mostly nice people. We make a "good living" and we get to work on teeth. We have great dental organizations, such as the AGD (shameless plug).

Let's talk about a "good living" for a minute. I know this year has been down, but really, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe you don't have that sports car you want. Maybe putting money away is a bit of a struggle. But don't mess with happy. I mean if you are making over $100k, you are in the top 5% of all of the country and in the top 1% in the world. And most of us only work four days a week. Perspective, people.

Okay, let's say you hate your life right now. You still have a degree that lends itself to some good employment. I got an email from a UF grad yesterday. He is a periodontist who just sold his practice after 14 years. He said his practice was not what he wanted so he gave it all up, and now he is looking for an associateship or looking to be a consultant.

See, some people love dentistry but can't stand private practice (if you are out there, you are not alone). But all in all dentistry is the envy of alot of other doctors. I run with a bunch of physicians, and some of them have it real good and they make a bunch more money than I do but they also work until 8pm sometimes (at 8pm, I have been home, coached a football practice, taken my daughter to swim practice, ate dinner, brushed everyone's teeth and we are getting ready for bed) and work on Saturdays and Sundays. Dude... we have it so good.

I have healthy great kids and an awesome wife (better than I deserve sometimes). I have great friends and am blessed with a great church. I have so many things to be thankful for, it's just is hard to think of them all. I love my house, I love my 9 year old pick-up truck. I love being able to coach my boys and love taking my daughter to swim practice. I love that my kids love me regardless of what a poop I am sometimes. I love living in Orlando. What I can say is God has shown favor to me.

I know the poop might hit the fan soon, but you know what? I will try to find joy in that as well. There is an old saying, "God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good." And I try not to forget it.

My church puts on a free breakfast to anyone Thanksgiving Day morning. We use it as an outreach and most of our members come because it is free. We invite all the first responders to come and eat. So our town's police and firefighters usually show up. Maybe the guy who gave me a ticket will show up (can you say "loogie?").
Then, after the breakfast, we are traveling to Miami to see my wife's family for the weekend.

Then it is back home for church and Christmas pictures with the WHOLE family. Now for you "the whole family" doesn't freak you out but when you are talking about the Gammichias. That is a different ball game.

My parents are divorced, so my mom and her husband will be there. My father is remarried and him and his wife will be there and his two step kids. Then I have four brothers and sisters. None of my siblings are married so there is nothing crazy there. But getting 16 people to remember to show up could get hairy.

I am thankful for so many things, but I almost forgot, I am thankful for you. I love, I mean really love, writing this blog (what can I say it is cheaper than therapy) and I am thankful for the AGD for working with me on it and I am thankful for you who read it.

And Thursday is Thanksgiving, do you know what that means? That there are only 27 shopping days until Christmas. Can you believe that? Crazy talk.

Have a great Thanksgiving. Be safe in your travels and I will see you next Wednesday (by the by, we are close to finding a Monday blogger).

Thanks
john

ps. I have tried to activate the rating system at the end of the blog. This is a feature that Blogger.com offers. So when you are done reading each blog there should be something you can click to rate that particular entry. Remember, I am sensitive so be kind please. But really it will help me write about stuff that you like to read. So if you vote it will help me write a better blog (if that is even possible).