One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories over the years is Black Friday. Now, I do love to shop and find deals, but for me the day is more about spending the time with family and friends. This is like the ultimate girls day where my mom, sisters and friends will all plan out an entire day together beginning at 4am and including coffee, breakfast, lunch and lots of laughs and conversation!
This past week, I happened to be at a particular store with my mom shopping. This store was where we were both planning to do most of our Christmas shopping for the season and we had a fair amount of stuff. At this particular store, they offer a few small bags and a few carts for shopping. My mom had somehow managed to get a cart when she entered the store. When I entered about 2 minutes later, there was a line of about 20 people waiting for the next avaliable cart.
My mom and I continued in our shopping for about 15 minutes and had started to pile up some bigger items in our basket. All of the sudden, we passed a young mother trying to contain all of her children's items in a small bag. As we walked past, my mom looked at her and said something to me about how sorry she felt for that lady. Before I could even reply, she had turned around and gone back to give her our cart and attempt to transfer all our stuff into the small little bag. This lady was quite overcome that someone would do this for her, especially on the craziest shopping day of the year!
To be totally honest, at first, my reaction was to be disgruntled that I now had to carry my own awkward, heavy items. Yet the Lord graciously reminded my heart that He had just given me such a precious picture of living out the Gospel. Philippians 2 reminds us that Jesus Christ came to the earth and willingly gave up all the comforts, rights and pleasures of heaven to humbly serve sinners.
Entering into this Christmas season, I pray I would be a person who does not merely notice the need around me and talk about it, but rather chooses to humbly serve as Jesus Christ did. As the holiday season is here, look for opportunities to give up your personal preferences or needs to actively and willingly serve those around you in the name of Christ.
