I'm not very present on social media anymore so I apologize if this post is just one more to flood your news feeds with rant over our materialistic obsessed culture and the loss of a sense of gratitude for what we do have in the wake of being surrounded by media pressure to have more.
Overall, it's an unfair generalization of our culture and I think most of us can say that the majority of our family and friends and the general people we know are very grateful and remember what's important in life. Media would like us to believe differently. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard Verizon's advertisements calling the day "Thanksgetting" because of the deals they are offering. Black Friday has now started on Thanksgiving day instead of at midnight. The holiday itself is easily lost amid the rush to get to Christmas.
Despite this, I believe that overall we are still a grateful people. I believe that most of us still know that while Thanksgiving is about being thankful for the ways that God has blessed us with freedom, friendships, family and food for our table, Christmas is about being thankful that God gave us freedom over death and sin. I am so thankful for the things here on Earth I have been given, but so much more incredibly thankful for the gift that this isn't the end, for the gift that even the greatest things or joy I experience here are nothing compared to what I will experience in heaven someday.
The "Thanksgetting" ads were just what I needed to push me over the edge of committing to making sure the way I celebrate Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas are reflective of what I believe. It's so easy to get pulled into the way the stores would like us to celebrate the holiday: spending so much money and time on "stuff". I prefer to find the beauty of the season in growing closer to Christ by drawing nearer to Him in prayer and in relationships with others.
That's why I'll be celebrating ThanksGIVING by giving thanks to God for my blessings and spending time loving my family, NOT shopping. I'll be spending the advent season making lists of the ways I can help and love others, not making shopping lists. I'll be spending the Christmas season doing the things on those lists and more. I will be a part of the movement to prove that our world has not all been lost in a sea of wanting and greed. I will GIVE, and not GET. Give the only true gift anyone can give, the gift of themselves.
Happy ThanksGIVING! Happy Giving!
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