Christmas: the new Labor Day, Halloween, Veteran's Day, and Thanksgiving

Raise your hand if you love Christmas. Now, put it down because chances are you're alone and no one else can see you anyway.

Both from a Christian and a secular sense, I agree that Christmas is fantastic. It's the birth of Jesus, it's a time of family and togetherness, it brings out the pure joy in children, and let's be honest, it's magical.

All that aside, I think that just like Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 states, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven ..." Applying this to Christmas, there is a time to celebrate it and a time to just be patient.

I was driving down Gateway Drive in about October and passed one of the highlights of GF, Ideal Inn. What made me do a double take was the significant inflatable Christmas scene erected in the parking lot. A couple things about that made me pause ... 1) I didn't realize people at the Ideal Inn were thinking about the birth of Jesus, but 2) it was OCTOBER.

I know the retail shops have all started putting out the garland and red ornaments as soon as the kiddos go back to school. Even though I don't like it, I can justify it because they need to turn profits.

Where I've recently been disappointed by an exceedingly early expression of Christmas cheer:
- The all-Christmas all-the-time music began on the radio right after Halloween
- The town Christmas decorations are already up and it's not Thanksgiving yet - I understand putting them up while it's still nice out, but it's not necessary to turn them on.
- I read on Facebook that some people have already had their trees up for about a week ... I hope they're not real firs.
- Boy Scouts are already selling wreaths ... won't they die before Dec 25?
- Commercials featuring Santa are on TV (but this is ok bc I love those, especially the Coke ones ..."Did ya see it?" ... "Uh huh.")

Like I said, Christmas is magical. But, doesn't it not only take away from the magic of Christmas as well as the focus on thankfulness during Thanksgiving, and the fun and fright of Halloween by starting the party a little too early? It's like if you live at the lake or by the mountains, you don't see them every day with the same awe and wonder that you do when you visit those spots on vacation.

I think too much of any good thing ruins it a little bit. So, here's to Halloween, here's to Thanksgiving, here's to the celebrations of Labor Day and Veteran's Day, and most of all, here's to Christmas and celebrating it for the magic that it is ... but not overdosing on it.