"Where do I seek satisfaction?"

Hello blogging friends! Blogging and college-ing at the same time is really hard! I just had my busiest week of the semester so far and it feels REALLY good to have a weekend to relax. Tonight I got to see one of my sister missionaries who went home in December! She came back to visit cuz one of her investigators is getting baptized tomorrow :) It's super exciting - the third convert baptism we've had since mine in November. Wow :)

Anywho, so my post tonight is about where we find our satisfaction in life.

Insert "What am I doing with my life" rant here

Guys, remember that thing about how I like fashion design but I'm also majoring in chemistry but taking fashion classes and maybe minoring in it and I wanna run a dress shop but chemistry will definitely pay better? (If you've read my About Me page, you know what I'm talking about)

Yeah, about that.

!!!!!!! THERE IS NOW A BAPTISM DATE !!!!!!!!

Tonight, I had the opportunity to meet with the sister missionaries. They're pretty much the best. We've been meeting weekly since I've been here at college. And tonight was one of the most amazing spiritual experiences I've ever had.

Making progress

Guess what! I'm at college now! Three weeks of classes under my belt, and I'm really liking it here. Especially the whole I-can-go-to-church-whenever-I-want part :D I'm attending YSA activities, I did (almost) a full fast for the first time on Fast Sunday (still had water, but I get dehydrated easily and that leads to massive headaches. Also, fasting in general used to lead to massive headaches. Last Sunday, though, I was fine!!), and testimony meeting was awesome.

#collegebound, and History Trek

This whole being an adult thing isn't working out for me, guys. If we could go back in time one year so I could have my senior year back, that would be great! :)

I have a testimony: Beauty in familiarity

Sometimes, it's fun to do the new and exciting. Sometimes, you want to rearrange your room or cut and dye your hair or buy a new outfit that's totally different from your usual style. Sometimes, you can't wait to move on to the next stage in your life and have new experiences with new friends.

And sometimes.....you don't. (Well no duh, Marie-Rose, we knew that)

Pioneers

D'you know how, in the scriptures, they're always like "remember how the Lord brought our fathers out of captivity," "remember the captivity of our fathers," etc?

I was reading Alma 29 the other night, and came across these verses:

11 Yea, and I also remember the captivity of my fathers; for I surely do know that the Lord did deliver them out of bondage, and by this did establish his church; yea, the Lord God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, did deliver them out of bondage.
12 Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of bondage.

Tutoring at midnight

I am exhausted and I really need to get up on time tomorrow, so this is gonna be short, but on Twitter this morning I promised you guys a post. So here it is :)

I'm up super late tonight cuz I was helping my sister with her math homework. Her class is learning the same concept as my Calc II class, but she's seeing it for the first time, whereas we're expanding on things we've seen before. My sister is struggling with the concept. I feel like I finally understand it at the level her class requires, but I'm drowning in the new material I'm supposed to learn. 

I have a testimony of fasting and prayer

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend Stake Conference for the first time ever. Yesterday was my mom's birthday, so I didn't think my parents would let me come. BUT my neighbor, seminary class, and various leaders prayed and fasted that I would be able to go.

Friday night, my dad told me I wasn't allowed to go. I was majorly disappointed, especially cuz Katie would be speaking. More specifically, she had been asked to speak about her work as a member missionary, being involved in both my conversion and the conversion of another friend (whom I call BatMoose on the internet). (PS I've asked Katie to email me her talk so I can put it up as a guest post for you guys!)

Kintsukuroi: a method of repairing pottery and people

The other day, I was listening to a conference talk from October 2013, cuz I have some old talks saved on my iPod and I hadn't yet had a chance to download the new ones (PS I've since downloaded them, just haven't had time to listen to  any of them).

Called of Him to Declare His Word, Elder Randy D. Funk

This talk is all about missionary service, but that's not really the point that hit me.

We are broken so that Heavenly Father can heal us to be stronger than we were before.

We need our Heavenly Father

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 I super like this image. I found it on the blog Pocketful of Sunshine, by a missionary named Kelsie. She's not posting while on her mission, but she has a ton of old posts I plan to go back and read :)

I find "Sinday," "Tearsday," and "Shatterday" especially applicable. Wait, applicable isn't the right word. They resonate with my conscience? Now that sounds all English-class-analysis-with-some-Zen-like-qualities. 

Anywho.

Olympic Thoughts. Again.

Remember this post where I talked about the awesomeness of Olympic spirit that brings the whole world together to celebrate athletes? I'm not going to deny the awesomeness. But watching the Ladies' free skate the other night, I had a slightly different perspective of the Olympic Games.

I found myself wishing that I was an athlete. I was almost an athlete, once. I was a gymnast for approximately 13 years. I never competed, and by most standards I wasn't even very good. But I could do more push-ups than any guy in my 6th grade class, and that was what mattered to me :)

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 Watching the ice skaters, and also bits of the ladies' skiing half pipe (it has a snazzier, more official name, but I don't know what it is), I wanted to be good at something. I wanted to be the BEST at something. Preferably something like gymnastics or ice skating. I wanted to be the only one who was able to do a certain trick, my "trademark." I regretted quitting gymnastics. I regretted that I never competed in gymnastics. I wished I had taken skating lessons. Why is it that I've only performed in front of a crowd once ever? (And that was when I was tricked into being in the chorus for the 8th grade play)

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It shocked me that it was bothering me so much. Right now, I'm more outgoing than I've ever been in my life, and that's not saying much. It shouldn't bother me that I never did those things. Even if I had the talents and skills to compete at the Olympic level, I don't think I would want to. So what up? Why did I suddenly covet want to have the skills to be in the Olympic spotlight?

Short answer: Satan's influence.

See, every person who has ever or will ever live(d) is special. Sometimes it feels like people just say that to make each other feel good, but it's true. Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us personally, and He loves us, too. Given that Heavenly Father is so important and well-known - there's even books about Him! And some "BY" Him, too! - I feel pretty special that He knows me personally. That's like having Katy Perry on speed dial, texting Taylor Swift constantly, and having lunch with the President on a regular basis. *Only a million times better*

And guess what? Satan wants us to be miserable. And a good way to do that is to get us to believe that we aren't special or important. So in that moment, watching the Olympics, comparing myself to Olympians was a pretty good way to make me "feel like a failure" (as my sister said while watching the 15-year-old Polina Edmunds skate waay better than we will ever be able to).

The world measures people's worth according to their athletic talent during the Olympics. But sports don't make the world go round. Kindness and common sense and education and service, that's what makes the world go round. And hard work, like at a legit job. (And lots of other things, but those are all I can think of at the moment)

You don't have to be an athlete to be a beloved child of Heavenly Father. You don't have to be the best in your field to be important. You are you, and you are a pretty awesome person to be.

<3 Marie-Rose

Youth groups and non-member friends (and also Valentine's Day)

One of my friends at school (we'll call her Magdalene) is very involved in her church. They have these tournaments that involve memorizing entire chapters from the Bible (and you thought scripture mastery was bad....). She's really good at it, too :)

Anywho, Magdalene invited me to her youth group's Valentine's Day activity (it actually was on Valentine's Day, I just didn't get around to writing about it till now...) . It was really fun :) we had pizza and cookies and watched Princess Bride. I met some new people and got to hang out with some awesome religiously-minded youth. Oh, and Magdalene plays a pretty intense game of foosball. From seeing her in class every day, I had thought she was quiet. That assumption was very very false; she just doesn't talk much in class! 

My point is, sometimes we forget that people of other faiths make good friends, too. I'm guilty of this. Since deciding to convert, I haven't made an enormous effort to hang out with my non-member friends. I do still see them, talk to them, etc, but not as often as I should. I need to work on that. 

Anyone with similar standards had awesome friend-potential. And those of you who don't live in an area densely populated with Mormons, you're awesome at this. I don't live in Utah, but there's plenty of members for me to hang out with. And they're all super amazing. But when they all go to BYU and I go to not-BYU, I need to know how to make non-member friends. I need to be comfortable making non-member friends. 

And also, youth nights are generally pretty fun (in my experience), I don't care who's running them. Why must they all be on Wednesday nights (except the Valentine's one I went to)?? That makes it difficult to visit your friends' church events!! And if you don't visit theirs, can you expect them to visit yours? Once, I made a deal with a friend- if I went to her activity, she would come to seminary. Unfortunately, I had to work and couldn't go with her :( the point is, make an effort :) it just might work :)

That post was totally not what I thought it would be when I started writing. Please excuse my random ramblings :)

<3 Marie-Rose

What's in my nightstand: where do my scriptures live?

Shout-out to Sometimes Sweet for the post idea! (Again!)

My nightstand is where I keep all most of my church stuff. And some other random things. So today I thought I'd give you a tour :)

On top

On top:

Alarm clock: self-explanatory, I think :) except I bought mine for $20 from a coworker, and now I can hook my iPod up to it cuz my old one I couldn't do that :D

Water bottle: I would die if I didn't have water with me at all times.

Lotion: also self explanatory, I think :) especially cuz it's winter!

Lamp: very useful for late at night when I'm reading scriptures and don't wanna get up to turn the light off when I'm done.

Bandana: my hair drives me crazy when it's down, but at night I don't wanna leave a ponytail in it cuz that's bad for my hair, plus I lose the ponytail. So I use a bandana :)

Picture frame: a picture of me with Keesha, Gramsie's dog. I loved that dog so much. She was born literally four days after me, and even tho I only saw her twice a year, she was my favorite. Unfortunately she was put down a couple years ago due to painful medical problems.

Top Drawer:

Top drawer

Scriptures: at the moment, I've got a Livre De Mormon in French and a Book of Mormon in English in the top drawer. I read em both at the same time so I can practice my French but still know what's going on :) (thanks to Whitney from The Life of a Mormon Teen for the idea!)

Scripture journal: my notes for all things BOM (and LDM, my French abbreviation) live in this journal.

Gratitude journal: it's been years since I've used it, but it's there just in case I feel the need to pick up the habit again!

Twist-up colored pencils and a mechanical normal pencil: gotta have some way to mark verses and take notes :) (also, in the picture, that is a regular pencil with zebra print duct tape on the eraser)

Diary: it's also been forever since I've used this. A few years back, I would only write in it when I had a bad day, which caused me to think even more negatively. So I quit writing in it. For some people, writing about the bad days helps, but not for me. I could probably pick it up again now, tho, cuz I've worked out some issues since then :)

Lots of random notes to myself: for example, one is a list of songs I need to go buy. A couple have people's phone numbers. Another is from back before I decided maybe Catholicism wasn't right for me, and I had plans to define for myself the difference between knowing and believing. Mormons often say "I know this Church is true," while the Creed said during Catholic mass says "I believe in one God...."

MagnaBloc thinger: a headband with magnets in it that's supposed to help get rid of headaches. I don't know if it works, but I get headaches waay too much, so it's worth a try sometimes.

Fake drawer space but it's really just a shelf underneath

Fake drawer space but it's really just a shelf underneath:

Magazines: lots and lots of church magazines. Abby gave me a subscription to New Era for my birthday last year, plus Francesca was giving me all of her family's old Ensigns for a while there :)

New Testament scripture mastery cards: I'm not sure why this is where they live, but there they are. I never finished scripture mastery last year... Nor have I started this year...

Scripture journals: some of them are from doing New Testament home study last year. One hasn't been used yet but it's waiting for when I finally find something to do with it (or finish another journal).

Individual worth project: yup, my little quote-a-day calendar lives here :)

So there you have it, folks. A little tour of one of the best parts of my room: where all most of my church stuff lives :)

< 3 Marie-Rose

Fear

This post is a little different. In this post, I am vulnerable. I don't have anything to teach you. I don't have anything that I'm persuading you to do.

I'm just scared. 

Ether 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

I have this weakness. I am deathly afraid of shots or immunizations or whatever you want to call them. I'm terribly needlephobic (unless I'm sewing, in which case I'm perfectly fine). 

A couple years ago, my mom took me in to get the flu mist. My sisters also got the mist. My mom got the flu shot. I passed out. 

You're probably thinking, Wait. What? 

Yes. Yes I did. I was wearing my heavy winter coat, I may not have had enough food in me, there was a terrible antiseptic-hospital-smell, I was terrified that someone might change their mind and give me the shot instead of the mist, and the mist itself for some reason made me slightly nauseous. And then they gave my mom the shot. I don't remember if I watched that or not. All I remember is trying to breathe more deeply, saying "I don't feel so good," trying to sit down....and then waking up on the floor. Laughing hysterically because I couldn't believe I had actually passed out. 

Since then, they always make me lay down for shots. Apparently it's impossible to pass out that way.

In health class two years ago, they showed us first aid videos. Really cheesy, poor quality actors, vey fake-looking.... But I couldn't handle it. There was a woman who was supposed to have a piece of glass in her arm, and they walked us through what to do in that situation (leading up to this clip, there had been several other, similar clips). I couldn't watch the screen. I tried to breathe deeper. I felt nauseous. My friends tell me I looked absolutely awful. I went up to the teacher and told him I needed to sit out in the hall. I laid on the floor with my knees up for quite a while. Got a drink. Etc. 

When I went in for an appointment with the oral surgeon, the pre-wisdom-teeth-removal-appointment when they go through all the legal stuff, the guy explained what dry socket is and how it can happen, and what happens in your mouth. I wouldn't let him finish, instead laying on the floor and, nearly hysterically, rambling in my head about the tree outside the window. 

My point is, I don't do medical-y things. There's more stories, about hospitals and clinics and that one time when I was approximately 4 and tensed my muscles right before they gave me a shot in the leg and I still get phantom pains to this day even though I can't remember which leg it was. 

So guess what. I have the last round of two different immunizations tomorrow. Thank goodness they're the last ones of these two series. BUT. I'm pretty much going to be FREAKING OUT until tomorrow afternoon. The previous round of these particular shots, I prayed. At least, I think I did. I asked for comfort and for Him to help me to calm down and things like that. I know that most of my fear is probably just the mental part. How I focus on it and freak out and make myself even more terrified just by thinking about it so much. If He could just help me to not worry so much, to just deal with the actual physical pain (or sometimes the lack thereof...?) when I get to that point, and not worry myself sick in the hours and minutes beforehand. 

Guys, I am probably never going to reread this post. 

I know I'm majorly overreacting. I wish I wouldn't do that. But I don't know how to prevent it. Cuz while I could find ways to distract myself tonight, or tomorrow morning before we leave, and pretend it won't happen....I don't have that ability anymore as soon as we sit down in the waiting room. Even sitting in the car is a struggle. 

How can this weak thing become strong? I know He could do it somehow. He could "cure" me of my fear right this instant. I'm not asking for that. I just want to be a little less nervous, to be a little less tense, to be a lot less stressed out, and preferably not cry at the clinic.

<3 Marie-Rose

Guest Post by Eliza: Dare to Stand Alone

Have you ever read Eliza's blog? She writes over at Mark This Day and she is super awesome. (PS isn't her blog name the greatest?? It's a line taken from one of my favorite-est songs ever, "I Will"!) Anywho, if you haven't read her blog, today we're doing a blog swap :) This means that she wrote the following post, and if you go visit her blog, you can see my guest post!

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Hey readers of Hope Always and Pray Constantly! My name is Eliza, and I'm going to be your host for tonight's show. Coming up will be some action you do not want to miss! First, we will visit today's Prophet, Thomas S Monson for some advice about standing up for what you believe. Then, we will take a stroll down Arithmetic Avenue and find out exactly how many people there are as you stand alone. Finally, we'll follow up with some statistics on who you've got surrounding you.

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When Tommy was a boy, he loved his family and was devoted to God. He grew up with a testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and loved the free country he lived in. That patriotism led him to join the army.

The week was filled with gruesome drills and backbreaking activities. Tommy was looking forward to the rest and relief that the Sabbath would bring. On Sunday morning, the sergeant told all the respective groups to meet. "You Catholics, go to the camp and don't come back until three." A large group left. "Jews, meet over there and do your business, and don't come back until three." The numbers were trickling down. "The rest of you Protestants, go to the quarters and don't come back until three."

Confused, Tommy stood watching the rest of the group file into the forest. "Tommy, you're not a Catholic, or a Jew, or a Protestant. You're a Mormon!" Prepared to face the wrath of his superior (for the army is a gruff thing ;) he stood there and watched. He felt the way we all sometimes feel-- alone, with judging eyes scouring us and our hearts beating. (In my case, I would get all nervous and flustered 'oh no, I have to explain myself in front of HIM?!') People may sometimes judge us for not being mainstream or taking the easy road. But we need to stand up for our beliefs, even in the face of our worst fears (big burly men and peers who could make our lives miserable: that basically sums it up ;).

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The sergeant looked over at the lines and yelled "Just what do you men call yourself?!" Tommy answered loud and clear and unashamed "Mormon, sir!" And his voice echoed. He looked around amazed and found that, though he had thought he was alone, there were about a dozen other stripling warriors who were left behind. "Well, go find someplace to meet, and don't come back til three!"

Like President Monson, we may have to face the different opinions of our peers and risk being alone in the process. But, just as Tommy found, no matter how alone we feel as we stand for what's right, we are never alone.

Math time! From this story, we can see that one=one. But...

One+God= enough

Even: One+God=Majority

Even when we feel alone in standing for the truth, even when it feels like no one is with us, God is. Christ said many times in the scriptures:

Be Still, and know I AM.

With Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ on our side, we can do anything. We are never alone.

One last thing though. God has promised us that angels will surround us and minister unto us. Think of how many angels are behind the veil hoping and praying that we will make the right choices! In fact, I am almost positive that if the veil was taken right now, you would see how many are surrounding YOU.

You are never alone when you are on God's side. Remember that there are more beings for God than against them. (Remember the war in heaven? Two thirds chose God's plan ;)

To quote Tommy again:

May we ever be courageous and prepared to stand for what we believe, and if we must stand alone in the process, may we do so courageously, strengthened by the knowledge that in reality we are never alone when we stand with our Father in Heaven. 

Well thanks for tuning in folks! This has been Eliza--signing out. 

Light, Joy, and Distractions

We got to light candles in mass today!!! It was super exciting. I felt like a little kid again. I think I've been to a mass where we lit candles like twice before ever, and it was forever ago. One may have even been an entire candlelit mass... Anywho. I was super excited. My sister looked at me like I was crazy cuz I had this stupid grin on my face :)

I didn't take a picture during mass, so I took a picture of a random candle and drew a flame on it for you :)

First, a lesson I wanna take away from that particular experience. Finding joy in the little things. It doesn't make sense that lighting a candle would make me so happy, but it happened :) partially cuz it was out of the ordinary.

Another example of finding joy in the little things happened last night. I was working (I'm a cashier), and this family came through buying birthday party supplies. I started talking to the older girl, who's turning 9 in a week or two. And then the younger sister, turning 5 in March, started telling me her life's story :) the older sister was obviously feeling like her younger sister was embarrassing her, but she was just so cute!! The younger one said she was gonna have cake at her party, so I acted all excited and asked if I could come. She's like yeah, go ask your mom!!! Right as they were leaving, she gave me some feathers she had found on the floor. I put them next to my register to "keep them safe" :) oh my goodness, she made my day. Little kids are just the greatest.

Anywho. Back to mass :)

In the homily, the priest talked about "worldviews." Now, I didn't really follow most of what he said, but it made me think of "being in the world, but not of the world." On the way to mass, I had been thinking of all the things I need to go buy for this or that or the other thing, what clothing sales might be going on, is there anything I need to run into work to buy, etc. But then I reminded myself, it's Sunday. I'm not going shopping today. I have next Saturday off, I can go then.

A post I read recently on All Our Lemmony Things talked about how we are a distracted people. You just gotta go check what that Facebook notification is about, or watch that TV in the corner of the waiting room even though it's muted. There's so many things flying around, and it makes it hard to focus on Christ. It makes it hard to pray (I have that problem). It's hard to be "in the world, but not of the world." But, especially on Sundays, we need to make a special effort to remove ourselves from those distractions. Don't pull up Facebook. Turn your back to the TV. Shut off the radio. Turn off your phone, if you need to. Focus first on Christ, and second on the very real people around you. They're more important than your Facebook friends.

<3 Marie-Rose

Puzzle Pieces

Have you ever heard someone compare life to a puzzle?

Each person is like a puzzle piece. We all run around trying to figure out where we fit. But we, as tiny human beings, can't see or comprehend the big picture. It's like trying to understand the entire universe - we're just not big enough; we don't have that kind of mental capacity.

So if we can't see the big picture, how on Earth are we supposed to find where we fit?? If we can only see a couple of pieces at a time, how would we know if we fit in that place or if we need to move to a different part of the puzzle? What if we are in the right place and we can't tell because there aren't enough pieces around us?

Think of putting a puzzle together. If you get all the edge pieces connected, can you guess where that one middle piece goes? Maybe. Now zoom in to where you can't see any of the edge pieces. Pretty much impossible to get that one little piece in the right spot when you have no reference points.

Oh, if only we had the picture on the box to look at....! But didn't we just establish that we're too small to understand that picture?

Guess what? Life is like a puzzle, and only God can see the picture on the box. Oh thank goodness. If He can see the box, His perfect master plan, then we can rely on His guidance to get us to the right place in the puzzle of life.

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<3 Marie-Rose

Guest Post by Katie: Swapping Trust

Hey guys! We're gonna try something new today :) my bestest friend Katie is gonna write a guest post! Unfortunately she doesn't have a blog I can point you to, but maybe we can get her hooked on blogging after doing this once or twice, yes? :)

<3 Marie-Rose

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Hey everyone, Katie here! I've known for about a week now that Marie-Rose wants me to post on her blog, but I haven't been able to think of something that feels right to talk about. Then this morning it hit me: Trust.

Long story short, I've been treated pretty badly by a few people in the last few years, and I've realized that I still have to trust; trust that God will help me, trust myself and what I stand for, and trust that people are good and kind and want to help. I know you guys know what I'm talking about; you've all been in that place. But sometimes we all need a reminder.

When we go through hard times it's easy to think that we deserve it, that we have to fix it, and that we shouldn't trust the same way again. But if we let ourselves think this way, we are being cheated. No one deserves to be treated badly, it's that simple. But we are all cheated, mistreated, and feel defeated at times. This is where we need to remember that at some point we have mistreated someone else. And we still view ourselves for the most part in a positive way, right? We tell ourselves that it was wrong and that we won't treat someone the same way again. So why wouldn't we trust that others think the same way? Though they mistreated us, it's likely they didn't intend to, it just happened that way. They probably think the same way we do and if we trust ourselves to treat others kindly, why wouldn't we trust others to treat us kindly? And if we trust that other people are good, we have to believe that we ourselves are good. We do good things, believe in good things, and are trying to do what we think is right just like everyone else. And though we hurt people sometimes, we are still good. And sometimes we don't have to fix the problem that was made, and we never have to fix it on our own. Sometimes you need to just leave things as they are and it's not your deal to fix. Sometimes it's the other person's job to do the fixing. And sometimes it's for the best. And if you do need to fix it, you always have God to help. Trust in God is essential to enduring life. Not just getting through, but enduring. God always wants to help us, even if we haven't talked to Him for a while or if we have done something horrible; and sometimes He helps us by making us do things on our own. He always helps. So it's important to trust Him and that He is leading you in a better way than you could yourself. This is something I have learned over and over again lately.

Let's take a moment to think more. I mean, we trusted that His son would come down to save us, didn't we? That that was the great part of His plan that would lead us home? If we trusted in Him and His son before this life, why not trust Him now?

Back to me to show you how this trust thing works. After my period of not trusting anyone like I had, I prayed and God led me down a path of showing major trust in someone. I took a leap of faith knowing that God would not lead me astray from His path. And so far, it has been a big comfort. I am happier than I have been in a while. I know that God always helps me, I know that trusting people brings us happiness and comfort that we are not alone, and I know that God trusts me; He trusts me to follow His will and help others follow His will as well. Trust is a two way street, and when followed, it leads to salvation. We weren't meant to walk alone, so we use trust to endure life together. We swap trust.

Your Friendly Shorty,

Katie :D

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Dear Americans,

We have a problem. Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. But retailers can't make very much money off of it, can they? Not unless they sell food or decorations. So they have a nifty solution- make Christmas bigger. Ooh yes, they can make a lot of money off of Christmas shoppers. How do they make Christmas bigger?

Well.

Let's look at the history of Thanksgiving. It used to be on the last Thursday in Novemeber, did you know that? Always the last one, even if November had 5 Thursdays. And now it's on the 4th Thursday, which is sometimes the last Thursday but not always. When did that change? According to Congress, Dec 26, 1941. 

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But FDR started observing Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday in 1939. Yup, during the Great Depression. Thanksgiving was on the last day of November that year, according to the "last Thursday" tradition. Retailers were afraid of losing money during the Christmas season because shoppers had fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And most people, at that time, didn't do their Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving.

Okay, so they moved Thanksgiving. Big deal, that was 72 years ago! Why am I writing a blog post?

Because, my friends, Thanksgiving is being completely disrespected. By retailers. Again. (Well, I don't have a problem with them having moved it. Especially cuz it was the Great Depression. But saying "again" just makes my point sound better)

WHY are stores open for Black FRIDAY shopping on THURSDAY night?? And after doing a little research, it's not just Thursday night.

It looks like Lowe's opened at 4am on Thanksgiving morning. Kmart wasn't much better- 6am. A few other stores opened Thursday morning as well.

I understand why. Retailers are increasing profits this way. But what happens when stores start opening at midnight Thanksgiving morning? At 8pm Wednesday night? When will it stop??

Just because I understand why they do it doesn't mean I think they should.

This whole phenomenon is totally disrespectful of Thanksgiving (and Christmas, too, if you think about it). Whatever happened to a day of giving thanks and eating way too much food and spending time with family? It's quickly turning into a major shopping day. And when you picture Black Friday shoppers, you picture loud, rude, selfish people who will do anything to get the "best price" on some materialistic thing. They're not spending quality time with their families. They're not being very thankful.

I have never been Black Friday shopping. But I've worked on Black Friday, twice now. I'm lucky to have my job, and not work at Walmart or something. We opened at 8am Friday morning (we usually open at 9am). It was awesome.

See, I work at this company called Hobby Lobby. We are closed on Sundays. Our CEO runs the company based on Christian values. We don't open at ridiculous hours just to make a little more money. 

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So guess what, big greedy companies? It's possible to be less greedy and still make money. 

Be thankful, people. Spend time being thankful. And AFTER you spend a day being thankful, THEN you may go shop. Gratitude makes you happier. I promise.

I apologize for not knowing the image source on this one.

<3 Marie-Rose