It bugs...

Ok, I'm getting on my soapbox for a minute...

Did anyone else bother to notice that the day after Halloween, our neighborhood put up Christmas wreaths at the entrance pillars?? I walked through Walmart the other day, not even a week after Halloween, and they already had a huge Christmas tree in the entry and Christmas decorations for sale. SERIOUSLY!? What the heck ever happened to Thanksgiving...you know, the holiday we celebrate in November....the holiday we used to get a week off of school for but now only get a few days...the holiday where we celebrate gratitude and thankfulness and togetherness!? I absolutely HATE how commercial our world has become. We skip right over Thanksgiving...barely even acknowledge it in our school system anymore (soon it'll be just like Easter, where we celebrate the resurrection of the Savior of the world but it's not recognized as a holiday anymore...boy, Christopher Columbus must have something special over Jesus!) Don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas season and the giving spirit and celebrating the birth of the Savior and being with family and friends...but that is NOT how the world views Christmas either, which is another soapbox topic in and of itself. I just don't understand how people don't have a problem with ignoring the giving, thankful, season of Thanksgiving and skip right to the presents 2 months early. Do we not have a lot to be Thankful for?? Do we not live in a free country where we enjoy wonderful things like the freedom of religion, education, food and shelter, employment, and safety? Are we not thankful to have the right to vote and be respected for our individuality as well as our equality, and be free from oppression and terrorism and dictatorships? Why does the world complain so much about what they don't have, and not even take the time to celebrate, once a year, the things they DO have??

I, personally, and VERY thankful for all of those things and many more things the Lord has blessed my life with like my beautiful, healthy family and a very hard working husband that provides for us, and the luxuries that we enjoy from that. I am so very thankful for the gospel truths that we have and for the sacrifice of Joseph Smith and the pioneers and prophets that paved the way for us to have the church in our lives today. And, I am eternally thankful for a Savior that allows us to enjoy the freedoms and luxuries of this life that other people do not have, and for His ultimate sacrifice in behalf of me and my family, so that we could live again together, as an eternal family...for without Him, we would have nothing...and through Him all things are possible.

I'm not trying to change the world, just venting I guess. In conclusion, I think Thanksgiving is just as important as Christmas and should be respected in the same fashion. With that being said, we will still decorate our house for Christmas AFTER Thanksgiving, and I like turkey WAY more than ham, so that's another reason why I am thankful for Thanksgiving! (: I'm off my soapbox now.