Good-Bye After Thanksgiving Sales!!!!!

Eleven years ago I decided never to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving again. I talked my mother into getting up early and going to the mall to hit the sales with me. She was a good sport about it all. But it proved to be a bad decision. Besides being crowded, I felt an overwhelming feeling to grab items off the rack and hold on to them for fear someone was going to buy it before I could make up my mind if I even wanted them. Looking at all the sale signs can get a girl in trouble if she doesn't have a plan! The fact was I didn't even need them and hadn't come to buy some of the items I had placed in my hands. I got caught up in the day like everyone else around me. "What was I doing?" I thought. What was the point of going shopping after Christmas? Yes, there were 'good' deals but the payoff wasn't worth the stress of pushing against all the crowds.

It didn't hit me how ridiculous the entire morning was until we decided to break for lunch at Chick-fil-A. With food trays in hand, we swarmed like vultures around crowded tables inside the restaurant as well as outside the food court. There was no place to eat. As I looked around, people were eating on the mall floor because there weren't enough tables for them to eat on. Where was the fun in that? By the time you found someone get up from a table, another person would come in and sit down at the same table not even feeling bad about seeing you wait for the table. It was so chaotic. That's when it hit me that 'Black Friday' was nothing more than an over glamorized hunt for treasures that break, get old and become forgotten.

Did you know that today, Toy's R Us opens for the first time on Thanksgiving tonight at 10pm? Other stores like Wal-mart and K-Mart open at midnight too...... on Thanksgiving!!!!!! So much for sharing time with family. I know there are people who love scouting for bargains on this monumental shopping day of the year, but I'm not going to be one. Here's just a few of the deals I heard about on commercials tonight. (60% off of men's sweaters and 50-60% off of pajamas. That's worth getting up at 4am for isn't it?)

I did like the half price on the I-Pad at one of the stores I found offering it. But, it's still not worth it to me. I want my family to enjoy the weekend together, not be engrossed in shopping.

My purpose for sharing thoughts about this day is to encourage you to turn your eyes back on Jesus this Christmas. CHRIST is CHRISTmas. He is why we celebrate Christmas and the reason we buy gifts for our families and friends. I am not against after-Thanksgiving sales. I just found it to be a day that took more from me than it gave back.

I love The Message translation of Matthew 6:19-21 saying,
"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

                                                                    Matthew 6:19-21 (The Message)

I love you my sweet friends and I pray if you do go shopping today, shop with a plan and a purpose. Don't get wrapped up in all the sale signs! Just get what you are looking for and get out of there! And most of all, while you have more time than usual during the holiday weekend... spend quality time with your family.