The excitement is building as the holiday season approaches. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. This long-time tradition ushers in the true spirit of the holiday season. Christmas and New Year’s will follow. Then, the historic inauguration of our first black president.

We all know that tough times are ahead of us. It’s disheartening and frustrating to hear of layoffs, foreclosures and bank bailouts. With the economic downturn we’re having now, and recession not far behind, I can only hope for miracles to happen under the new administration.

It’s a relief to know that President-Elect Barack Obama and his transition team are thinking of how to rescue the middle-class families that are massively affected by this economic upheaval. Surely we will get some relief through his plan for a middle-class tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans and the second stimulus package that is now in the works.

People are worried about the economy. But on the other hand, go into a shopping mall and look around. Already, stores are adorned with Christmas displays and glittering holiday decorations. It goes to show that, amidst the economic problems facing our country, we can still manage to celebrate and move on, to pursue a better and brighter America like the one Barack Obama talked about during the historic election of 2008.

Yes, folks, we can still manage to celebrate all the blessings that we have — our belief in and joyous celebration of the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, our celebration of the New Year and our excitement about a new era in our American history, the much-anticipated inauguration of the 44th president of America.

Truly, excitement is building as we welcome change into our lives, a real change we can believe in. Yes, folks, amidst the insurmountable problems our beloved country America is facing, we shall prevail. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., whose dream is becoming a reality, “We shall overcome.” We will do so, because we’re all Americans working together to make it happen.

With hope and unity, we shall overcome our country’s and the world’s pressing concerns. Yes, change is coming and we have to make sure we’re ready, even to sacrifice if that’s necessary, in order to succeed. Yes, we can make America great again. Yes we can, and anything is possible, because it can only happen here in America, the land of the free.