Be THANKFUL For That Tree BEFORE You Put It Up!

Is it just me, or are there other people out there deeply offended when people put their Christmas trees up before Thanksgiving? I don't know if it's happened in years previous (and it probably has) but this year, I've noticed it just seems like EVERYBODY wants to put up their Christmas tree right this second. It's like an epidemic! I don't get it. Maybe everyone is just bored or something, I don't know.

People look at me as though I'm a Mrs Scrooge and I'm so against putting the tree up because I hate Christmas or something. Which is not the case at all. I love Christmas! I always have and always will! I love the decorations and the music, the smells and the traditions. I love putting up my Christmas tree too. But....this is the time of the year you spend with your FAMILY and it's not about decorations. It's not about the turkey and the stuffing or the football. It's not about presents. It's not about materialistic stuff at all. It's about being with the people you are most thankful for. THANKSgiving is about giving THANKS. And when you put a Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving, you overshadow a very important holiday. You wouldn't have turkeys put up on Halloween would you? You wouldn't have shamrocks everywhere for Valentines day? You wouldn't have 4th of July decorations out for Easter? So why would you have a Christmas tree out before Thanksgiving? Why do you think the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday, is used most for buying Christmas gifts and it's the day AFTER Thanksgiving?

I know Christmas is a favorite time of year for everyone and it's everyone's FAVORITE holiday. Congratulations, it's mine too. But first I celebrate Thanksgiving. I am THANKFUL for the blessings in my life FIRST. Then the day after Thanksgiving, up goes the tree and the decor.

Someone said earlier (and she didn't say it directly to me but I know she was implying it) that people who don't put up their tree before Thanksgiving don't get to experience the joy of Christmas as long. Haha. That made me laugh. Dumbest thing  I've heard all day. No, let me correct you. Not only do I get to experience the joy of Christmas, but I also get to experience the joy of Thanksgiving. So I get DOUBLE the joy.

And maybe Christmas isn't a big deal to me this year because my gift this year is my daughter, Lexi. I am more excited about her than anything else! Even more than I was when my parents took me to Disneyworld for the very first time for Christmas when I was about 8. ;-) The tree, and the decor, and the stockings, and the ornaments, and the caroling, the lights, the music....yea, I'm excited about it. It's fun! But having a baby does kind of overshadow all that...and first things first: I am THANKFUL for the people in my life. I am THANKFUL for the roof over my head. I am THANKFUL for the food on my table. I am THANKFUL for the car I have to drive to get places. I am THANKFUL for my health. I am THANKFUL for my job. I am THANKFUL that I have such a wonderful, loving family and that they raised me to know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.  I am THANKFUL that I have a beautiful baby girl on the way: a miracle from God. And I am THANKFUL that I KNOW what the meaning of Christmas really is. It's Jesus' birthday. It's the first day of the beginning of HOPE for mankind. And it's also about being THANKFUL for your BLESSINGS!

So before you go putting up that tree before Thanksgiving, how about being THANKFUL that you have a tree to put up in the first place?