The countdown is on.  The week ahead will consist of everyone finalizing their Thanksgiving menus as well as their travel plans.  They will gather with family and friends for the big Thanksgiving feast with plenty of leftovers!

And then … it will happen.

Black Friday Shopping.

Immediately following the day in which we all give thanks for all of our blessings, we hit the stores to snatch up those bargains.

But, is it truly worth it?

Sure, you may get through the massive crowds of people to get a few dollars off of this or that, or maybe there will be really huge discounts.  However, do we all really need to do this?

I’ll be honest and say that my family and I decided to see what all the hype was about last year.  With several stores opening at midnight, we decided to venture out in the middle of the night in the crisp, cold air only to find an extremely long line wrapped completely around our mall.  It didn’t take us long to realize that this just was not for us!  So, we turned our car around and headed back to our house!  I did check out a few items online, and the store with the long lines waiting outside actually had the same deals online!  To me, it was worth just ordering with a few clicks of my mouse and having it delivered to my home instead of fighting that crowd!

I guess the real problem I have with all of this is the fact that the holidays are supposed to be about spending time with the ones that you love, NOT the deals you can snatch up or from each other in the stores.  People actually get angry with each other, and we’ve all heard horror stories of fights breaking out in the store over the last hot item as everyone wanted it but only one lucky person was able to get to it first.

I realize that you don’t want your children to wake up on Christmas Day without any presents, so it is important to shop.  I do understand that.  I just don’t want the true meaning of this holiday season to be lost, and sadly, it gets to be more about material things than family, friends, loved ones, and all of God’s blessings in our lives.

As I walked through a medical building yesterday, I noticed that they already had it decked out with a huge Christmas tree, garland and bows on the railings going up the stairs, and wreaths hanging on doors.  Then, upon entering a store, they seemed to bypass Thanksgiving altogether and focused solely on Christmas with deals marked every where and even Christmas tunes playing!

And speaking of Black Friday again, one of my Facebook friends asked if she was the only one that hasn’t already started decorating for Christmas.  No, she’s not.  My family and I haven’t, and we won’t … until the day after Thanksgiving.  We want to give this holiday all we have – making sure to give thanks for all of our many blessings.  We intend on savoring this holiday.  Then, when everyone else is trampling over each other on Black Friday, my family and I will get our Christmas decorations down to begin decorating.  We like to put on Christmas music and everyone picks their favorite decoration to add to the Christmas tree.  With hot chocolate in hand, we step back to look at our beautiful tree with all of the bright lights and sparkling ornaments, and then we put in a movie and snuggle together.

This is what it’s all about – quality time spent together!  Let’s have more of that and less focus on material things this holiday season.