Black Friday- a Study in Contrast

Black Friday is when people go shopping and get great deals and fill their cars with all the items on their Christmas list for half the cost they might otherwise have incurred. Black doesn't seem to match the mood.
Good Friday is when Jesus was crucified, tortured, taunted, and killed. Good doesn't seem to match the mood there either.

This year, Black Friday really was black, My nutty son and adventurous wife left at 9 pm to be sure to get a good parking space for the midnight opening of the stores. It was cold and dark, an inky black sky. They planned to shop all night. Ah, to be young! I went to bed before their car wheels hit the street. It is exhausting preparing an enormous multi-dish meal that you hope to all come out hot simultaneously. It also required college level math computations. I had to compute when my make-ahead casseroles (5 of them) had to come out of the freezer/oven, and go in to the oven either concurrent or directly after the turkey came out. They all had different thaw times and different cook times, which made the careful computation necessary if they were all to emerge at exactly the same time from the oven, just as the turkey was done being carved, and the family seated with just the right amount of famished. It is a juggling act that those who have never attempted have no idea about the complexity involved.

So on Black Friday eve, I was happily snoring while the mobs scoured the malls for items that would change their life. It is really a custom that somewhat puzzles me. Thanksgiving is all about contentment and gratitude. But Black Friday really feeds upon discontent, and insatiable desire to have more. I understand the drive to save money on Christmas gifts or necessities, particularly if money is tight, but still....there just strikes me something inherently off with the biggest shopping day of the season following the day when we all wallow in contentment. And now it doesn't even just follow the day of Thanks; it begins as early as 9:00 the same day. We of course know where this is headed. Black Friday will completely engulf Thankful Thursday, gobble it up entirely, and instead of the family gathering for a feast and prayers to our Almighty Creator, we will be standing in line at Walmart gathering for prayers to the Almighty Dollar.

This is not to say that I can't wait to see what Matt and Karissa snagged on their all night foray when they wake up, which won't be til the middle of the day, I imagine. I just wish Black Friday could occur a few days after Thanksgiving. It would have a less incongruous feel. Even Jesus waited three full days after Good Friday to demonstrate why it was so good.

Job 28:3
³ Mortals put an end to the darkness;
   they search out the farthest recesses
   for ore in the blackest darkness.

Matthew 27:
³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

Isaiah 53: 4-6
⁴ Surely he took up our pain
   and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
   stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
   each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.

Waking to dog noses

"Ugh....5:30.....why are we so gung-ho about dog agility trials?"
Meanwhile, Honeybun was wagging her tail, "Oh boy! 5:30 and she is getting up! I get breakfast an hour early!!!!"

(by the way, did you know the origin of the phrase "gung ho" is Mandarin and had to do with the Chinese call to rebuild and thrive when the Japanese destroyed their factories? It translates to "work together.")

It didn't help the waking up and acting like there was sunshine in my cup with the fact that the neurotic dog, Lucky, had felt it necessary to tell me repeatedly through the stormy night, "There are thunderstorms lurking everywhere." Then he would stick his cold wet nose in my formerly sleeping face. I think I slept about 5 minutes last night, in between two thunderclaps.

After breakfast, Honeybun crashed back in her bed. Meanwhile, I am trying to rub the bags out from under my eyes with hydrochloric acid.  Fortunately, I will be all weekend in the presence of dog people. Dog people aren't looking at the dog owners anyway. Dark circles the size of Texas under my eyes won't be noticed.

And really, having hit another  birthday milestone yesterday, I think I should be praising God for every day I awaken. I should be doing that no matter how cranky I feel, or how early the morning shows up.

But just for the record, I am hoping that there will be no thunderstorms tonight. Gung ho! Off to the trial!

 1 Samuel 26:12
No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the LORD had put them into a deep sleep.

If I only had a brain.....

I am providing a public service for those of you who are struggling to be thankful on this day when thankfulness is elevated to a superstar level. If the blessings of breathing, opening your eyes upon a vast blue sky hung with heavenly lights, hearing the sound of leaves rustling,  breathing the smell of wood fires in the cold, or nestling in the arms of a loving God who is always patting your back is not enough, here is something everyone can be thankful for. Be thankful you were not me yesterday in the rigors of extreme mortification at the hands of my treacherous tongue and vacationing brain.

I had brought my iPod to the Apple Genius Bar, to belly up for a little Happy Hour repair. The on/off button was sticking to the point where I had to hire a professional trainer to turn it off. Despite having cooked all day for two days in preparation for the Thanksgiving Feast, I was not at all focused on Thanksgiving. I was focused on whether I would have to be without my iPod for a day.

The Apple Genius approached me, and I told him I had made an appointment. My iPod was nestled safely in my purse. He was a congenial fellow, and after asking my name, smiled in a slightly conspiratorial way, and asked, "Turkey in the oven?"
Now I don't know why I had completely forgotten it was the day before Thanksgiving but the question caught me completely unawares. "What is he talking about? " was my first thought, followed by a vague recollection of the euphemism "bun in the oven" for pregnancy. Surely he is not asking me if I am pregnant, only a week after I was mistaken for a senior citizen at the Souper Salad buffet, is he? OH, I realized suddenly, this is Apple Genius code humor for "Do you have your iPod with you?"
 I smiled back, with a wink, to let him know I was with him on his repartee at the genius level, and patted my purse.
"Yep, my iPod is right here," I said.
He looked confused, and Asherel, perhaps the only human being more mortified than me, said, "MOM! He means Thanksgiving turkey....in the oven...."
As if I were seeking to embarrass myself further, I burst out laughing and added, "OH, I thought you were asking if I was pregnant."
By the way, I do not have a quiet voice.
So here is a grey haired lady with her apparent granddaughter, shouting out in the crowded Apple store that the employee is asking her if  she is pregnant.
The Apple Genius began to laugh so hard he was almost crying, as by now so was I and even the horrified Asherel who was actively praying for Jesus' Second Coming right now so she would not have to endure another moment at my side.
"That's a good one," chortled the Apple Genius, "That is one of the best I have heard in a long time."

Thankfully, a different genius was assigned to my case, and he swapped out my old iPod for a new one, which has a functioning on/off button. I think my brain, like my iPod, had been stuck in the OFF position. It happens sometimes. It is hard to believe that I actually share genetic material with my 15 year old nephew who just got a perfect score on his first college calculus final. His brain is obviously in the ON position. I could chalk it up to senility but this type of situation is not uncommon with me.

As we left the store, Asherel asked me if I had ever been so mortified in my life.
"Oh yes," I answered, "Many times. Remember I lived with Grandpa."
She nodded understandingly.
"When we would be in the marching band, or cheerleading, or marching with the dance drill team out on the football field at highschool games, he would stand up in the football bleachers and yodel to get our attention."
"Yodel?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered as we headed to the car, "Like this."
Of course at this point, with my brain still stuck on OFF, I yodeled.
"That's enough Mom," said Asherel, "I understand."

So be thankful all you people out there who think you have nothing to be thankful about. But you know what I am adding to my list of things to thank God for today? A crazy father who nurtured quirky kids and filled our lives, at least in retrospect, with laughter. And I hope someday Asherel may be able to say the same.

And I am thankful for my heavenly Father as well, who for reasons only He can answer, made me with a sticky on/off button.

Colossians 2:6-8

 ⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.