Why I like Thanksgiving & being thankful for what you already have

November 25, 2014November 25, 2014 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

I Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

As everyone knows, that does not live under a rock, this Thursday is Thanksgiving. I have always liked Thanksgiving for many reasons. Here are a few:

1. I get to see my family that I love. Especially the ones from out of town. I am turning into my Mamaw. If it’s a holiday or Sunday dinner, my loved ones are required to be at my house. And if not, I just won’t ever understand what else could be so important that you could not have your feet under my table for that time. I just love them that much.

2. Thanksgiving is leisure time. Not like that other holiday that is coming up next month. Thanksgiving is cooking & eating & visiting. You are really not required to do anything except cook, eat, & visit. That’s easy. Oh & watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade & football games. Plus, we enjoy a little Just Dance, on the Wii, at our house as well. Miss Neenee’s usual response when I play is,

“Mama quit. You are embarrassing yourself.”

3. We eat our way through the whole holiday. I begin by hosting Thanksgiving breakfast. We fill our bellies full of biscuits, Mama’s breakfast casserole, quiche, homemade Danish, bacon, sausage, & various & asundry jellies, preserves, & whatever else I can come up with. Then, once that’s over, we go for the meal with the star of the show- the smoked turkey. There’s dressing(not stuffing), cranberry sauce, beans, corn, salads, shells & cheese, casseroles, rolls, so much I can’t name it all. And desserts that will make you want to slap yo’ mama & draw back at your daddy. **On a side note, speaking of which, my Daddy has already proclaimed his Thanksgiving day plans are to eat breakfast at my house, then, go back to one of the bedrooms & sleep until we wake him up for dinner. ** I love a well thought out plan.

4. Me & my sweetie get to cook together. It just all comes full circle. We love to eat. So, cooking together makes it just that much more fun.

5. No stressing out. I have my menu made weeks in advance. I get my groceries bought up. We plan when we are cooking what. We execute our plan. If anything goes amiss, it’s ok. It’s all family. They don’t care. Not like Christmas. My hair will be falling out before Christmas Eve. Seriously. It happens every year. You don’t have to worry about presents on Thanksgiving or making sure everything is just right. I leave that for next month.

So you see, I try my best, to celebrate Thanksgiving the way it should be. Being thankful for what the Lord has so graciously blessed us with. I read an article that has suggested showing gratitude is a lot more healthier for us than not being thankful- even for the everyday things. You can read 20 Mind Blowing things about Gratitude here. I do want to mention Bro. Brad preached an excellent sermon on Sunday- pinpointing being thankful. He said he had read a story about a preacher that was always thankful. He said one of the negative Nancy’s of the congregation came in thinking there was no way the preacher would find anything to be thankful for that day. It was nasty outside. Raining, wind blowing, terrible weather. When the preacher got up to pray, he said,

“Thank you, Lord, that not all days are like this.”

What a wonderful attitude of gratitude. There is always something to be thankful for. The blanket on our bed, that keeps us warm a night. The roof over our heads. Hot water. Shoes. Our sight. Things that oftentimes we take for granted. We as a society are so funny. Because you know what the day after Thanksgiving is- Black Friday.

Sad, but true.

I am glad you stopped by to visit with me today. I so hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Like every year, I will be so happy to be surrounded by friends & family. However, will be missing my Mama, too. She loved a celebration. No matter what it was for. Happy Thanksgiving, ya’ll!! Until next time I will be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: someecards.com, tilhecomes.org, thanksgiving scripture

The cure to Black Friday’s chaos

November 27, 2012 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

So, you know I was blogging about Black Friday, not too long ago. I saw a picture on Facebook that really drove it all home.

When did we become so obsessed with material things, that it’s more important than God? People will get up in the middle of the night, stand in line, & wait as long as they have to for a deal. Those same people won’t wake up in time on a Sunday morning to worship God. We have it all backwards. People tend to put so much emphasis on what they can buy & possess, that they miss the point all together. How many people have you seen with a U-Haul behind a hearse? We can’t take it with us. However, we will give up our families, our friends, God, or whatever gets in our way, to have worldly objects.

When we are sick, do we depend on a new car to take care of us? Does it make a difference to our house if we had an awful day? What about the property that we own? If we get bad news back from the doctor, can it help us? All of that may sound silly, but this is where many people put their love & attention. They treat these things sometimes as being more important to them than their family & friends. We need our family & friends. If you don’t believe it, see if you can get you new big screen t.v. to bring you gas, when your car runs out- on the side of the road.

However, to have loved ones, you have to love others. If you don’t, you have a long tough way ahead of you. I love to hear the story about my great father watching a long a funeral procession pass by. My Dad said to him, “That man had a lot of friends.” In which his grandfather replied, “ Well, son, he was just a friend to a lot of people.”

Jesus said in, John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Love for each other is the most important thing in the world. I pray that we all can show love to others this week. I am so glad you stopped by & visited with me. It makes me immensely happy! I have to be going now, because I should be washing clothes….

Side note- Just so you know, I am not bashing all Black Friday shoppers. The extreme parts of it, well, are just a little unnecessary.

Christmas shopping is a trick

November 15, 2012 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

I was listening to the radio on the way to work. There was a commercial talking about black Friday. Evidently, if you don’t start camping out, outside of Best Buy right now, you are a loser & won’t have anything for your loved ones, for Christmas. Or at least that’s what the announcer implied.

Deals! Deals! Deals! Oh the joys of saving money-for the holiday, of course…..

I will say this, the retail stores have done a great job of trying to get what little left over money the country has. I mean, the Christmas decorations are out earlier every year. At Halloween, we went over to our town’s trunk or treat for Miss Neenee to get some candy. We were driving along & the Miss said, “Look Mama, snowflakes.” Then, she proceeded to point to the light poles, that already had the Christmas decorations on them. Go. Figure. Let me tell you this, I have 5 kids & a grand child to buy for. I do not Christmas shop all year round. I do not go to black Friday. I wait until December to start shopping for Christmas. And you know what? Every year, they get Christmas presents. I am not usually too stressed or coming apart. My problem is, with such a large family, spending too much money. Aha! You may say, perhaps I need to visit black Friday! No, I would rather go thru all the money I have, than put myself through that. Everybody has their rathers. I would rather make a couple of mad dashes here & there & get it done.

Mind you, there was a time I loved Christmas shopping. When my Mama was living we loved to shop together. She loved shopping at any time of the year. Christmas was just an extra special treat! Even when she was in a wheelchair, she would have my Daddy take her to the Walmart Supercenter at midnight. Not just at Christmas, but other times, through out the year. Her thought was that it was less crowded. So, if she wanted to take time looking at things, she did not have to worry about being in people’s way. Her Mama loved to Christmas shop, too. I remember going to the store with her. She would let me pick out what I wanted. It was a toy, sometimes, or make-up, as I got older. I got to help her pick out presents for my cousins, too. We would do a lot of window shopping, as she called it. You know, looking & admiring, not so much buying all we saw. In times past, I would go with my sister-in-law & brother shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving. We usually went to Memphis shopping. We would go to the Mall of Memphis & to Goldsmith’s on Poplar. It was always a fun time making my brother carry our bags. Perhaps one day I can Christmas shop like my Daddy. He did all his Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve, every year, for every one, at Radio Shack. My Mama was not too much on electronics. So, he would have to pick her gift up somewhere else. But boy did me & my brother always get some cool stuff! One year we got a remote control airplane. Another time my brother got a hand held electronic baseball game & I got a tape recorder. Good times.

Whether you decide to go to black Friday & line up with all the folks to buy your goods, or if you decide to lay back & wait to start your shopping later on- I won’t judge you. I will just be snoozing blissfully, on my day off, while some unshowered, lady(who has been up all night) snatches an Easy Bake Ultimate Oven or Furby away from a well meaning shopper down at the local Walmart. There will be chaos, nasty jeers, yelling, & tramplings in some stores, all in the name of Christmas presents. Who wouldn’t want to miss that?

Thank you for stopping by to visit with me today. I would love to hear about some of your Christmas shopping experiences. However, I have to be going now, because I should be washing clothes……