Happy Thanksgiving

Though it's Friday morning here in Tokyo where I am for a week or so, it's Thanksgiving back at home, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to list some of the things I am grateful for. There are sure to be many MANY things I'm missing, but this was just sort of a brain dump here.

I approached listing God first, followed by immediate family members in descending age order, and then everything else is just alphabetized. I am more of the persuasion of Matthew 6:4 ("That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.") and so I usually don't discuss this much, but I have a deep and abiding faith and perhaps some day I'll do a more extensive posting on this, but herein I list it first and know that it's the cause of all of my other many blessings.

So here goes, and I apologize for the many things I've left out:

• God and Jesus Christ. I’m grateful for God’s great plan of happiness that makes all of this possible, and for my Savior who in spite of me loves me and offers me an avenue of repentance for all my imperfections.
• Michelle. My wife is my best friend and I love spending time with her. She’s a terrific mother and wife. All parents encourage their children to “marry up” – I certainly did that, and I’m glad that Michelle ignored her parents’ counsel in this regard.
• Justin. I’m glad that Justin has turned out to be such an awesome young man, in spite of being our “guinea pig” in the parenting experience. He’s super talented, funny, full of integrity, and is doing a great job serving a mission right now for our Savior.
• Christopher. I know of few young men whom have a greater love for his fellow man that Christopher. He always wants to help other people, and is doing a great job serving our country.
• Brianna. I once heard a father explain that with the birth of his son, he thought he had no greater capacity to love. But then his daughter was born and he found a little corner of his heart that he had no idea existed. And so it is.
• Andrew. Quiet, unassuming Andrew. Sort of a quiet, blend-in-the-scenes young man with incredible intelligence, whit, athleticism and talent that continually takes us by surprise.
• Mark. “Hey… I coulda made a hat out of that!” The poor kid got my sense of humor (sorry, Mark). We can always count on Mark to make us laugh and to appreciate life in all its wonderment.
• Steven. Rounding out the Goodale lineage with an even half-dozen, Steven always strives to do the right thing and we love him for it. His purity and innocence reminds us of where we should all be.
• Acura. Loved my TL when I had it, and today my MDX is really fun to drive.
• Air Travel. On American Airlines alone I’ve traveled more than four million miles lifetime to date, and yet air travel never ceases to amaze me.
• American Soldier. And all of our military members. Though Christopher’s experiences in the Army have jaded him a bit about the quality of our men and women in uniform, I think overall he still respects them and is proud to be counted amongst that group. I am grateful these brave men and women whom have written blank checks to our government and to us, payable up to and including their very lives.
• Blogging. Michelle says I’m voyeuristic and perhaps that’s true, but I love expressing my thoughts and sharing my fascinating (or incredibly dull) life with my loved ones.
• Books. Wow I love reading. So many good authors out there, too. You’ll never see me on the road without a book to read. Hey… maybe I do all this traveling because it’s a good excuse to engross myself in a good new book.
• Boy Scouts. Two of my sons are Eagle Scouts and I’ll have a third one soon. I am grateful for this great program.
• Campfires. Sure… I’m a boy and therefore like fire. And if you know me, you know I’ve always said that if it’s not visible from space, it’s not a campfire!
• Cell Phones and Text Messaging. My first cell phone was a BRICK, and my how we’ve come to rely on these things!
• China. OK. Is it weird this one would come up in my list of things I’m grateful for? Not really. Over the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in China, and I love its “uniquefulness” – a tough thing for a nation of over a billion people. One for personal progression, I love to see the national progression China is making to become a responsible player on the world’s stage. Still a ways to go, but I love China’s progress.
• Computers. I grew up in a world where a motherboard was what your mom hit you with (OK… my mom never hit me, for which I am also grateful) and random access memory was just merely selective memory (a practice still practiced by my entire gender). Imagine life without computers now, though!!!
• Constitution. I believe the document created to guide our nation was inspired of God, and I am grateful to have it. May we not use it as a doormat.
• Dining Room Table. OK… not the table, itself, but I’m grateful for all the great family conversations we have around the dining room table. You see, in our home, the dining room table is not something you pass by on the way to the rest of your life. It’s a destination.
• Diversity. Indeed, I think it’s really cool that we all sway our hips (or not) to the beat of a different drummer.
• Driving. I love driving, and have driven in some amazing places: cross-country trips in the U.S., the German autobahn, the laneless madness of the roundabout circling the Arc de Triomphe, the French and Italian rivieras, the crazed streets of Japan, another driving-on-the-left experience in Melbourne and Sydney, and other great places.
• Earth. What a beautiful planet we live on!
• Employment. I am so grateful to not only have a job, but I’m grateful to do something that I really enjoy.
• Extended Family. I paid tribute to each of my direct family members, but I am so grateful for all of my extended family. Too many to mention here, but I love you all!
• Facebook. I have reconnected with so many long-lost friends through Facebook – it’s way fun. Not to mention being on Facebook is a great way to know your own kids! Thank you Mark Zuckerberg and your geeky fellow computer science friends at Harvard for founding Facebook!
• Food. I’m not the smallest guy on the planet, so you’re probably not too surprised to hear that I enjoy food. Speaking of which, while here in Tokyo this week, I can’t wait to go to my favorite yakiniku restaurant, Safari.
• Freedom. I am so grateful for the freedoms that I enjoy every day, and admittedly take for granted.
• French Toast. OK. Who doesn’t love French toast? While my family is enjoying a yummy Thanksgiving dinner at home in Boise, it’s Friday morning here in Tokyo, and I made French Toast here in my weekly mansion studio apartment room. Yum!
• Health. Though not perfect, I do enjoy relatively good health, for which I am grateful.
• Home. We have a great house, that truly is a “home.” I really miss it when I’m on the road.
• Idaho. I truly love my adopted state (some pics here). It’s gorgeous, and for the most part, I love its people.
• Information. I am grateful to be part of the “information age” when just about anything you can possibly imagine is readily researchable with a few keystrokes.
• Infrastructure. OK… on the outset, I can see that this might seem funny, but think of all the modern-day conveniences we take for granted. And when was the last time you freaked out when you flipped a switch and the light did NOT come on. Or flushed the toilet and it didn’t go down. We freak out in the rare instances when our infrastructure fails us, and it makes me grateful to have them.
• Intelligence. I’m not claiming to have it, but I love pursuing it, and am thankful I can do so.
• Internet. Ever indebted to Al Gore for having invented this!
• Japan. I love its people, its culture, its history. What a great place. I am so glad that I was called to serve in Japan as a missionary, and thus began a lifelong love of all things Japanese.
• Japanese. I love the Japanese language, and have fun in my never-ending study of it. I am grateful to be bilingual.
• Microwave Ovens. Wow how we missed ours while it was on the fritz!
• Modern Medicine. It has brought my kids safely in to my world, and has on occasion brought them back from some pretty serious ailments. Who could imagine that a once-daily little pill could save our family from the traumatic epileptic seizures that one of our own was suffering? And as I sit here I can think of eleven separate times I’ve been under general anesthesia while doctors have cut in to me to fix one thing or another! And who can survive kidney stones without modern medicine (I've done it once, on a flight from Tokyo to L.A. - I wouldn't recommend it!).
  
• Mother. I’m grateful to have had a great mom, and I miss her. We had this tradition that I would call her every time I went out of town – and hence we actually spoke quite a bit! There are still times when I get in to the car to head to the airport and instinctively I pull out my phone to call Mom. See my tribute to her here.
• Movie Time. Whether going to the movie theater or sitting in our family room with a DVD, I love hanging out with my family and watching movies.
• Music. I love music, and with the possible exception of twangy country western and opera, there are few genre of music that I do not enjoy. I am very grateful that I have some musically gifted children. Even as I type this, I’m listening to a recording of Justin playing in the All Southern California Honors Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” – recorded when Justin was just 16.
• Photography. Capturing life is awesome. My Flickr sets can be found here.
  
• Popcorn. Kudos to the guy (or gal) who discovered that if you heat up corn kernels, they explode in to a culinary treat! I’m enjoying some right now, even while typing this list (otherwise I may not have thought to include it).
• Shadow. We have an awesome dog. Our 80-pound huskey/malamute mix is gorgeous, loving, and dumb as a rock. Sometimes I think I’d like his life.
• Simplicity. In spite of all the fancy things I’m listing that I’m grateful for, I love simplicity, as well, as reminded by Lynyrd Skynyrd’s recent song release “Simple Life.”
• Skiing. Though I’m not very good at skiing, and my really bad left knee keeps me from going on advanced runs, I look forward to making good use of our season passes to Bogus Basin this winter!
• Snowflake. Our beloved bunnicula? I can’t be thankful for our pets without including the rabbit. Nobody really seems to like him, but I admit to occasionally going up to him and petting him on the head (and miraculously, he doesn’t try to bite me in the process).
• Sports. Not that I’m very good at any sports (“Here, Andrew… let me show you how that’s done…”), but I sure love watching them, at every level. From the hysterical tee ball games we enjoyed with our young kids all the way up to professional level contests, it’s all great!
• Stormy. What? I’m grateful for our cat? I guesso. Stormy has put a chink in my belief that cats are God’s proof that not everything in nature has a purpose.
• Taco Seasoning. It’s unlikely you could ever escape our house without hearing from our children about our taco seasoning experience one Christmas morning several years ago.
• Talk Radio. A funny thing, perhaps, to be thankful for, but I love it, and listen to perspectives from all sides. It stimulates the mind.
• Travel. Though I spend TOO much time on the road, I am grateful to have seen much of the world, and I love it.
• USA. I have the cool perspective of experiencing much of the world throughout my travels, and there is no place like the United States of America. I pass through U.S. ports of entry several times a year, and on more than one occasion I’ve gotten choked up when seeing “Welcome to the United States of America” at these ports of entry.
• Video Games. Hey, indulge me here! The industry is what puts food on my table and keeps a roof over my head.
• Weather. Now having grown beyond the four seasons of Fire, Earthquake, Flood and Riot that Southern California offered up, I’m grateful now to be living in Idaho where we experience four distinct seasons.
• Writing. I’m not a very creative person, but I love writing and it’s the one avenue where I do have at least some level of creativity. I’ve already written a little bit on a couple of works of mine here on this Japan trip, and look forward to more.