Black Friday Gone Wild
When will it end? I heard on the news today that opening up super early the Friday after Thanksgiving is not good enough for some stores. There is a growing race to get the shoppers out on “Black Friday” so stores that used to open at 9am, opened at 7am. Then other stores decided to beat them out and opened at 6am, 5am, or even 4am. Who in the world wants to get up at 3am to be some store at 4am? I have joked for several years that the stores might as well just let people spend all night in the store, and now they are taking me up on the joke. Some stores are saying they will open at 12midnight Thanksgiving night so that all us poor Americans who never get the chance to shop and have nothing to wear can shop all night. There has to be a better way to start the Christmas season. Unfortunately, many seem to be defined by what they purchase. Christmas is becoming more about getting and receiving the right gifts rather than a celebration of God’s great gift to us of his son Jesus and gathering as a family to worship him. Do we really believe that saving $50 on the latest TV or gizmo will make us happy? Will having those gifts under the tree make us content? Experience has taught us no, but for some reason we keep going through the same frenzy. This year you can break the cycle and as a family choose to focus more on giving than receiving. But you will have to talk about it first. I hear people say all the time that their parent, friend, or whoever, is hard to buy for because they already have everything they need. That ought to be a clue to us - don’t make buying a present someone does not really need the focus of Christmas. Some have gone to the other extreme and decided not to give any gifts, but I think that is sad. Love wants to give, and it does make Christmas special. I love both the giving and receiving of gifts. I believe this is a great tradition God started when he gave us his Son. Think outside the box this year. For example, you could honor a friend or family member by giving a gift to a special project at your church in their name. Samaritan’s Purse has a gift catalog where you can give a gift in someone’s name that helps someone around the world. You can feed a hungry baby in a third world nation for a week for $9 or help an impoverished father get a goat for $70 to feed his family. Sponsor a child for a month or a year through Compassion International or World Vision. Others have found great joy in giving homemade gifts like baked goods or some craft. Some of us who are not very craft oriented need other options; trust me you don’t want me anywhere near your kitchen or sewing machine. Think about giving a gift of time, or service, or an experience. Give your spouse a date night out, or a sensuous massage. Give a child an evening at the park together and ice cream on the way home. I like to combine a small physical gift with a gift of time or some experience. Be creative this Christmas and you will not only have more fun, you won’t have to spend Thanksgiving night in a store waiting for Black Friday.
