Merry WHAT??

It seems to come sooner and sooner every year. November barely begins and EVERYWHERE there is Christmas. Our Hobby Lobby is even in the process of marking down all fall and Thanksgiving items 60% off in order to make room for more Christmas stuff.

And yet, while every store in most every nation celebrates December 25th, more and more stores are removing the REASON. "Happy Holidays" ring through the stores with a "Don't wish anyone a Merry Christmas or lose your job!"

Wether you are a Christian or not, the reason the stores LOVES this time of year is for one and one reason alone - the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It brings the stores BILLIONS of dollars. Yet most fail to recognize WHY we celebrate at all.

Focus on the Family has started a campaign to find out which stores will wish you a Merry Christmas, which use it sparingly, and which stores are abhorrently opposed to Christmas (though will be more than happy to take your money for the season).

You can find the list here. It will be changing with updates regularly (so they said on the broadcast from Tuesday). I highly encourage you to print it out and bring it with you and not spend a dime in the stores that are so abhorrently opposed to Christmas. Spend your money and show your thanks to those stores who are willing to acknowledge what the season is about. (Be sure to watch the Merry Tossmass 2008 video while there!)

I want my children to not be afraid to wish others a Merry Christmas. I saw last year that my oldest, who is a little more observant of things, was reserved in wishing others a Merry Christmas. She even told her sister, who had just very enthusiastically wished someone a Merry Christmas, that we should not say that. OH how my heart broke. Of course I explained things to her, and we still need to talk about how we need to be a light in this ever growing darker world. But I think that this is a time for us to be a GREAT example to our children. Talking to them about WHY we are shopping at certain stores and not shopping at others. And what a great way to help our children focus on the meaning of the season by shopping at stores that acknowledge it!