Posted by Dana

There is a song titled Where are you Christmas? and the first few lines of the song ask these questions.  Where are you Christmas?  Why can’t I find you?  Why have you gone away?  Sadly, these same questions apply to Thanksgiving as well.

Where are you Thanksgiving?  Thanksgiving is a day to be set aside for giving thanks to God and to celebrate the ending of the harvest season.  Or at least that what’s it’s supposed to be about.  However, lately it’s really not all about spending precious family time and giving thanks.  It’s more about the anticipation of the big shopping day, BLACK FRIDAY!  Retail stores are even monopolizing your time you get to spend with your family be opening their doors “early” on Thanksgiving day.  Not only are they trying to take us away from our family time, but their employees are missing family time as well.  These days everyone is so busy with their lives that when we do have the opportunity to spend time with family it surely shouldn’t be interrupted by retail scams to get people off the couch and out the door to cash in on a good deal.  Because if you really think about it, that “good deal” isn’t so good if it means sacrificing time with family.

Why can’t I find you?  We can’t find Thanksgiving because of this thing called “Black Friday!”  According to Wikipedia, Black Friday is defined as any Friday the 13th or any Friday darkened by catastrophe.  Darkened by catastrophe, what a scary thought.  Are we as a society “darkened by catastrophe?”  What is that we are searching for that is so important that we can so easily be sucked in by all the hype surrounding Black Friday?  Maybe we are searching for the wrong things!

Why have you gone away?  Thanksgiving hasn’t gone away, it is still here.  I think we have just lost the meaning of Thanksgiving.  I can remember my entire family, on my father’s side, gathering at my Grandmother’s and Granddaddy’s house for Thanksgiving day.  It seemed like we would spend the entire day there.  I was just a kid, so us kids would play while the grown ups visited and talked.  No one was in a hurry to leave or had anywhere else go.  We were content just spending precious family time together.  My Grandparents have passed away and our family doesn’t get together like we used to, but those memories are so precious to me.

When are we going to tell the retail giants that enough is enough!  We are tired of chasing the almighty dollar and making you richer on a day that should be set aside for family.  The only “good deal” is the one that can’t be bought at a bargain price.  And you don’t even have to be “sucked in” by a retail giant.  Just look around at your family and give thanks to God for that family and all that you have and all that God has blessed you with.  Now there’s a GREAT DEAL!  I’ll take two, and it’s free!!  I hope you and your family has had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

In closing, I would like to share with you what I am most thankful for:  I am thankful for God, my husband, my kids, my home, the food I have to eat, great friends and answered prayers.  What are you thankful for?