A Note from Chris Adams: Although I am not a Black Friday shopper, I know many thrive on the tension of getting the best deal on that one day! Sometimes our focus during this special season of Thanksgiving and the celebration of Christ’s birth shifts from the reason we should celebrate. I love the suggestions Dr. Deb Douglas, First Baptist Church, Bossier City, LA, gives us for helping moms redirect their focus to the most important aspect of this season.
Black Friday. The official start of the Christmas season. It’s as if the starter’s gun has gone off. The flag has dropped. The race has begun. Moms, start your engines. And we’re off.
Actually, we are way off. Off from the reverence of the Christmas season. Off from the quiet understanding that God sent His only begotten Son. We have eaten our Thanksgiving turkey and have been swept away into the Christmas race.
The insanity of Black Friday—women fighting for parking places and racing to get the best deal on things that will probably be returned after Christmas. Women are focused on finding the perfect gifts for people they feel obligated to buy something, only to come home, look at the receipts, and worry about how the charge cards will be paid. No joy is found, just exhaustion and the dread of another year of paying for Christmas.
It’s Black Friday, women’s ministry leaders. What are we going to do? Are we going to stand by and watch another Christmas get drowned in false expectations and disappointments? It’s Black Friday, a day filled with the highs of shopping followed by exhaustion and fear of another season of expectations. Another year when that picture perfect Christmas gets torn apart by busy schedules, arguing families, and financial worries.
This Christmas, let’s change things for moms in little ways that will shift the focus from being perfect to being a mom who enjoys time with her children. A word from a women’s ministry leader has the possibility of changing Christmas for moms. Moms are desperate for someone to help them leave the insanity of Christmas perfection. They need a helping hand to pull them from the madness of the race of Christmas expectations.
How can we do this? Text. Email. Post. Tweet. Every day between now and Christmas. What do we say?
- A Scripture verse
- A story about the sweetest Christmas moment you’ve experienced
- A simple encouragement to take time to sit and ponder the Christmas story
- A short burst of wisdom, like, “Children will not remember what gifts were received, but they will remember mom telling the Christmas story on Christmas Eve while cuddled up and drinking hot chocolate”
- A reminder to subtract one thing from the Christmas schedule
- A witness of Jesus’ story
It will take some thought and prayer, but these simple daily reminders about the meaning of Christmas will change Christmas for moms. The Christmas story is so easily lost in the hectic race of the season. Make an effort not to let moms loose the story.
There’s another Black Friday on our calendar—a day of reverence that we call Good Friday. The day the world went dark in mourning for Jesus. The death of our Savior is linked to the story of His birth. It is the rest of the Christmas story. We cannot have salvation without Christmas and Good Friday. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ willing sacrifice for salvation just as Easter is. This Black Friday, let’s turn the attention of moms in our influence to joyfulness of the entire Christmas story.
Dr. Deb Douglas has served in women’s ministry for over 37 years. Now she spends her time working with Purchased Ministry, a ministry to women in the sex trade industry. Deb is also the Director of Biblical Counseling at First Baptist Church, Bossier City, LA. She was the first to graduate from New Orleans Baptist Theological seminary with a Masters degree focusing on women’s ministry and has earned a Doctor of Education in Ministry degree from NOBTS. She is “Pearl” to 3 sweet grand babies, “Mom” to Jared Douglas and Katie Chavis, and wife/sweetheart to Paul Douglas.
