What did you do today? When our children were young (many years ago 😊), Black Friday meant getting up veeerryy. early, with a list of stores and the best specials to be found. Then, along with thousands of other early shoppers, stand in line, in the cold, to get the perfect gift at the perfect price. Fast forward forty years and holiday sales start by the end of October. One store has been having Black Friday sales every Friday regularly. It seems everyone wants to push the holiday sales earlier and earlier. Crazy, right? 

As I look back, I’m not sure I ever paused to thank God on Black Friday for the ability to shop, the people in my life I had to shop for, the shoppers who were nice, and the shoppers who shoved and pushed ahead. It was a big mistake on my part. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, often frustrated, and my day had been filled with everything except thanking God for his abundant blessings.

Our scriptures remind us it is not the stuff of life that brings true joy. Because God knows our needs and loves us so much, it is through Him we find true joy. Isn’t joy and hope what we each long for? Even if we have true joy and our hope is in Jesus, don’t we just desire to be closer to God in our lives, following him each day?

This day can be crazy. It can also be the perfect day to look around and give thanks for everything, crazy or not—especially the gift of life in Christ.