And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 27-28

Monday, November 11, 2013

Where is Thanksgiving?

          Thanksgiving is a time to remember all the the things that God has blessed us with. For me its also a time of preparation. Preparing myself that I can not give my children everything that that would love to have for Christmas. With Black Friday ads in full force and people making maps and planning store routes for the best deal, I am continuing to tell myself that I can get through another year with out all the extra stuff.

          I can of course, all the stuff doesn't matter and not long after Christmas has passed parents will be returning gifts that they don't want or need and toys will be left in the corner or under a bed forgotten.

          I have to admit that it is hard though. We have such a large family that I can't provide all that I would like too. But, I do know that God will provide all that we need.  My kids have always been healthy, which is a huge blessing. We are living in a state I love and going to the church that I have a deep passion for. What else could I want for?

          Its hard living in a society where we are so bombarded with STUFF every day. The entitlement attitude is astounding in America. I DESERVE is shouted from the mountain tops and we take it, drink it down and then force feed it to our children. "thats right honey, you need that new game, you need that newest, latest XBOXWIIUDSIIPAD. I will get it for you and go further into debt because you deserve it. Next year I am sure you will want something bigger and better and expect to get it, but that's fine

          I was appalled last year when talking to someone around Christmas time and she told me her experience with Santa Clause the year before. "Susan" said she had asked her daughter what she wanted for Christmas and her daughter told her a certain toy. So wanting to please her she ran out and got it. Then a couple weeks later they went and saw Santa at the mall. Well she told Santa that she wanted a train, which she described in detail, which was not what Susan had tucked away 2 weeks ago. So Susan is running around trying to find a certain train at the last minute because Santa needs to deliver.  She was saying that they had to find Santa earlier this year so she didn't have to go through that again this year. Wow, I was shocked. What if she asked for a Pony? Or a baby brother? Or World Peace? How can you deliver that? and when does it stop? I just merely smiled and said well, my kids never get what they want from Santa, but they are OK with that.
          Now I am not trying to bring up the "SANTA" discussion. I personally think he gets a bad rap sometimes. We do include Santa in our Christmas and the older ones like to help. But we also tell our kids the meaning of Christmas and do activities to instill Christ in our Christmas every year. You can feel and do what you want. But I am thinking that its absurd that you have to get whatever your child asks from Santa or not, simply because he or she asks.

          I love gifts, I love to get them and I love to give them. We even take down our tree Christmas Day every year because I can't stand to see the naked tree after the opening extravaganza. But there has to be a stopping point. Black Friday has now become Black Thursday and Thanksgiving is gone. Who can resist a good deal? Not many. So now a holiday that was about being thankful, spending time with our family, eating too much food and watching football is gone, and instead we buy gadgets we don't need possibly for people we don't like, because its a good deal or we need to keep up with the Jones'.  We get the stores in the black and our family in the red.

         I'm sure I've upset people, but I am OK with that. Life goes on. When my husband asked my dad if he could marry me my father replied, " I don't care, shes going to do whatever the hell she wants to do anyway". Yep, haven't changed.

         I would invite you to share your thoughts, don't worry I can handle it!