Annual Thanksgiving Day Reflections - 2014

This should be one of the easiest Thanksgiving Day reflections I have ever written, for the very simple reason that I am staring at the handiwork of God as I type, and I have the added inspiration of that handiwork being my backyard view here at our house in the desert. I should just get this part out of the way now - I don't mean to say, "I am thankful because I have a house in the desert", or "look at me, our view is awesome". I take the risk of it coming off that way in setting up my piece as I am, so I want to crush that to the best of my ability. Yes, I am thrilled to have this respite home in Rancho Mirage, and certainly the morning view is stunning. BUT I am mentioning it and sharing it NOT to say, "look what I have" - I swear. I am starting off this year's reflections this way because I want to say , "look what God has done". The double meaning here is that He created this, AND He has blessed me with the ability to see it. Seeing it as I draft these reflections requires me to share it. I hope that's all clear enough.

The truth is that the material blessings in my life are a very small part of what I most feel grateful for this particular Thanksgiving morning. I look at out at these mountains across the fairway and lake and so forth and can only see a God who is big, and it reminds me that I am small. Maybe I am getting old and maybe God has changed my priorities, but I cannot believe how many blessings exist in our lives that we do not have to pay for, that are readily available for us to enjoy, if we just open our eyes. Sure, my backyard looks out at this view, but I don't own the view - anyone can see what I am seeing, and all of us have eyes on a world that is utterly remarkable for how it was made. Oceans, mountains, lakes, waterfalls - pick your poison - there is creative evidence of the creativity of God right in front of our faces, no matter where we live. I am thankful for this.I spent years of my life not seeing what was in front of me. Dealing with my own issues or wrestling my own demons or just being too plain self-absorbed, I couldn't see the mountains because I was too focused on affording the house. Today, if I could afford 100 more of these houses, but didn't have open eyes to the awe and power of God, it wouldn't be remotely worth it. I mean that. I am thankful for this perspective.There has never been a moment I was not thankful for my kids since the day they were born. I don't really like even thinking about what kind of person I would be if they had not been born. I have always thought they were precious, adorable, and utterly special. But today I am thankful for their unique, personal, total individuality. They think a certain way, act a certain way, dream a certain way, and will become a certain person, because God made them with souls, image-bearers of Him, for whom He has a plan. As a parent this reality has not been real enough to me, and over the last year it has become more real. For this, I am thankful.Speaking of not wanting to think about what kind of person I would be, my wife and soulmate, Joleen, is the embodiment of my Thanksgiving in so many ways. She is her own person, with her own personality, driven by what she is driven for, and simultaneously she is my partner, at my side, a total part of my life. She is a model of sacrifice and love for others, and she is determined, industrious, productive, and amazing. We have passed 13 years of married life together, and I am grateful for all 8,087 days we have had together.I worry that people think I talk too much about my career, my clients, my love of portfolio management, etc. So I won't pile on here. I am thankful for this moment this year, which was a symbolic summary of gratitude felt up and down my professional life.

There has been a lot that has happened in my life over the last 523 days, but there has been a lot that has happened in my life the last 6,930 days as well. The former number may seem random but the latter number is how long it has been since my father died. In a lot of ways adulthood started that day, though I had been pretty well prepped for it (by him) beforehand. I could never explain the nature of the journey I have been on since my dad died, both to find myself, to find God, to find peace, and to find success. That journey continues today, albeit with a lot of progress made and a lot of clarity. That progress and clarity I reference are things for which I am thankful.2014 has enabled a long-time dream of mine to come to fruition, and that is the birth of a faith-based, rigorous private high school in my hometown of Newport Beach, CA. Fall 2015 will see doors open with the inaugural class, but the work we have done over the last year to make this dream a reality has been a blessing. I have incredible partners in this dream-actualizing - Keith, David, Mike, Scott, Matt, Luis, and Ben - and countless others who are joining the team to create a multi-generational institution for liberal arts learning, and more importantly, life preparation. For these men and this opportunity, I am thankful.There is nothing I am more thankful for this year than the enhanced serenity God has given me, even when I have least deserved it. I live life at a fast pace, and i am at peace with the fact that that is who God made me. But people like me are at risk of a severe "miss" in their lives if they are not careful - missing the mountains in the backyard, missing the funny things their four-year old says, missing their wife's smile when they head off to work, missing those "moments" in one's life where the greatest joy and satisfaction can be found. I have a certain symbol of the success God has given me here at this house and in this backyard. But I swear to you this beautiful Thanksgiving morning, that what I most have, is a symbol of moments I never want to miss. And yes, for this, I am thankful.Happy Thanksgiving.“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.It has seemed to me fit and proper that [the gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens… to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”– Abraham Lincoln