Hi Everyone,

The summer blew by us and now the holiday season is flying upon us. Soccer, football, and volleyball are over and basketball and wrestling are starting. For my family of four young kids, school activities really keep us hopping. Now add the holiday season and it sometimes seems we are moving at warp speed. Often times I have to stop to make sure I take time to be truly appreciative of all the blessings I have and contemplate the true meaning of these Holidays.  Please join me in being thankful for all we have and the wonderful freedoms this country provides by the many sacrifices of others.

Insurance Reminders

The New Year restarts co-pays and deductibles for most insurance plans. Therefore, if you need work, check with us now while we still have time to optimize your 2007 insurance benefits.

Certain flexible medical spending accounts are “use it” or “lose it” types of accounts. Dental care qualifies as a legitimate use for these accounts. If you need statements for filing claims, please contact Lori and she will be happy to supply the back-up you need. If you haven’t used all of your account balances yet and need dental care, please call so that you can take full advantage of your account.

What’s New

Michele Beres has completed her hygiene degree and now works as a periodontal therapist and hygienist. She is a long time employee and steps quite nicely, with impressive skill, into our hygiene team which is one of the best in the country.

The installation of our new digital x-rays is complete. They have new quality that rivals film, flexibility that film can’t provide, and we have lowered the patient’s exposure. It also provides your records with a new safety and security from fire and catastrophe.

You can now directly buy dental products from our online product store. It’s convenient; it’s safe; and you’re assured that these products are correct for you. If you’re not sure which products you need, you can email us and our knowledgeable team will help. We also add an extra verification step to the process minimizing shipping cost—providing you better value. Click on “Product Store” at www.gfdonline.com.

Our team has written a number of new information articles. Check them out on the GFD website at www.gfdonline.com, click on “Resources” and then click on “Dental Health Articles”.

Holiday and Christmas Shopping

Yes, we can help you with gifts. Please see the enclosed holiday flyer to find some fun and practical gifts that can save you time and money (even for those difficult to shop for people).

On a Personal Note

Paul Harvey has read a great story on his national news program that helps people get into the spirit of the holidays that I think you’ll enjoy. I’ll do my best to retell the story.

A man sent his family to the children’s Christmas Eve program on a quiet still night. He was not much into that kind of thing, he really didn’t see the relevance, and his wife and kids has grown accustomed to his absence. While they were gone it started to snow and it began to snow heavily.

He flipped on the outside light to see how much snow had accumulated and as he looked out he saw a cluster of birds huddling near his garage being covered in snow and they appeared to be freezing. For some reason he pitied them. He thought that if he raised his garage door they could get out of the snow and warm up a little. When it stopped, they then could fly away.

As he went out to open the garage door, the birds spooked and flew away. However, the man opened the garage door anyway, walked back inside the house and then watched form the window to see what would happen. The birds flew back and roosted on the same spot of the driveway just a foot away from the open door where shelter and warmth waited—but the birds would not go in.

The man thought, “Maybe I could coax them in”. As he went back out the skittish birds fluttered away, but this time he spread some bird food on the garage floor just inside the open door. He again observed the birds flying back and roosting in the same place—freezing, ignoring the warmth, shelter, and now nourishment that lay just a few feet away. Running out of ideas, he sneaked out a side door and crept up on the birds from the end of the driveway hoping that when he startled them they would fly into the garage. But as he got closer, the birds scattered away left and right instead of into the garage.

Totally frustrated with the fact that he could not make the birds understand that he was trying to help them and to keep them safe, he thought, “if only I could become a bird so that they could relate to me. Then I could lead them to safety, warmth and shelter.”

Right at that moment, a church bell rang and as it sliced through the still, dark, snowy evening the man paused to contemplate his last thought about the birds. As he did so, he started to grasp the relevance of his kids’ Christmas Eve message…..” Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord….” (Luke 2: 1-20) …. “Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’”. (Matt. 1:18-25)

On behalf of Dr. Stubbs and my outstanding Team, may Thanksgiving, Christmas and/or your Holidays, be relaxing, filled with renewed relationships, and a time of blessings and reflection.

Dr. Lanae D. Fox