I am sitting here listening and reading the latest news. The country is officially in recession. I have experienced in the last month a decrease in sales at my coffee shop. I am still OK. However, it is scary to imagine what 2009 will bring. Some of my friends have lost their jobs; others will be laid off by the end of the year and some are in the verge of loosing their homes. It is hard to try to cheer your friends up and assure them that everything will be fine when you cannot even imagine their anxiety. I am one of the lucky ones who still have a job.

I am scared not for me but for the people around me. My best friend will loose his home by the end of this year and just the thought of the uncertain future gives me a little anxiety. I know everything happens for a reason and I should trust God’s Will, but I am still human and sometimes I worry.

My mind is racing away imagining all the possible consequences of a bad economy. People will fall into depression, jobs will be lost and crime rates will rise among other things. The domino effect is already palpable and it is scary. How many more businesses will have to close their doors in 2009? Driving through the city you can already see empty strip malls, closed restaurants, big chains announcing “going-out-of-business” liquidations, “Lender own homes”, Short sales and foreclosure signs.

City officials announced cuts in public programs. Students are having a hard time getting loans to continue their schooling; Government reduced grants while the cost of education keeps rising. Homeless shelters are loosing their funding; even dogs are left behind when their owners cannot afford to keep their homes.

Is 2009 going to be the worst I have ever seen or it will be an Awakening? Will people help each other and become a family again or will it be the survival of the fittest? Will our new Leader be capable of delivering hope? Only God knows. What a test He is giving us! I pray to God to help all of us during these hard times.