November 29, 2009

 

Dearest family and friends,

Greetings and blessings once again to each of you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Earlier this week I sat down to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with my wife Annette and my daughter Monica, who worked together to prepare it.  It was just the three of us; we had asked a few others to join us but for various reasons, none did.  It turned out to be a precious family time, one of those that Annette, especially, has voiced a desire to have more of.  We missed our son Dawson, though we knew he was enjoying himself with his girlfriend Lydia’s family up in Washington state.  At the table and afterward, the three of us named 22 different, deeply felt blessings for which we are thankful.  That’s the theme I want this letter to convey – one of deep thankfulness to God both for the good things we have that we do not deserve and for sparing us some not-so-great things that, in some cases, we do deserve.

This year Annette and I will plunge into the “empty nest” – our biggest transition in quite a while.  On May 8, Dawson will graduate from Northwest Nazarene University with a major in commercial music.  Our family will be up in Nampa, ID, to congratulate him, at Commencement and at a reception hosted by our special friend, Glenda Duggan.  Any of you who might be in the area are most welcome to drop by.  Two weeks later, we will celebrate with Monica as receives her high school diploma, with honors, from The Colorado Springs School.  Monica has five applications out to Christian universities, all located far enough from Colorado that she’ll truly be “away to college”.  Dawson’s plans after college are yet to be set, but he would like to be “out on his own”, if possible, and we support him in that.  We are very proud of both our son and our daughter.  Both follow Christ faithfully and have many healthy relationships.

I continue to work as a contracting researcher for National Embryo Donation Center.  More details about my work and travel can be found at www.regfinger.com.  This is my second year leading the Colorado Nazarene Bible Quiz program.  Annette continues to clean houses part time, to help with the local Bible Quiz teams, and to manage all those details on the home front that I can’t or won’t.  We have continued thinking and praying about “life after graduations”.  Annette may be able to travel with me a little more.  She will also see more of her family members in Oregon, an even higher priority now that her parents are in their 80s.  She has also discovered Facebook.  That’s why, when I return from a trip and tell her about an encounter with a friend, she sometimes has more updated information than I have.  I am not used to it yet.  

Again, thanks to all of you for your letters, calls, and e-mails throughout the year and at Christmas.  We’re looking forward to receiving many of these in the next few weeks.

Blessings in the name of the Lord,

Reg, Annette, Dawson, and Monica Finger