Black Friday

In my hometown (DuBois), you have to be part of Black Friday to believe it! Even the years I've spent in Pittsburgh...the after Thanksgiving shopping there has nothing on DuBois. Maybe it is the fact that DuBois has 50,000 people jammed into 5 stores where as Pittsburgh has 200,000 spread out in 200 stores. In any case, DuBois on Black Friday is not the place to be!

For some reason I let Jen talk me into driving her to some stores on Black Friday while we were in DuBois last week. The video above only tells 1/2 the story...the inch by inch travel time...the 1 hour drive to go 1 mile...but this was taken around 2:00 PM. You multiply this by 100 and you get the 6:00 am to 10:00 am craziness!

Growing up when I had no money, I would go out on Black Friday only if I would save at least $100. That amount has climb significantly over the years and now stands at $500. But several years ago, there was a computer I wanted at Walmart that would save me a bundle. With the store opening at 6:00 am, I journeyed out of the house around 5:15.

Big mistake! The Walmart parking lot was already completely full, as well as the McDonald's lot on one side, and the bowling alley lot on the other. The line wound all the way to the back of the main lot further than I could see. By the time I got parked and made my way to Walmart it was 5:55 and the store would be opening soon. With the size of the line, I knew it would be hopeless in getting my computer unless I came up with some sort of plan.

So here's what I did...my grandma used to work in the fabrics department there, and I would drop her off or pick her up for work at a little used side door. I figured I would just go stand in front of that side door and act like I was waiting for it to get unlocked (figuring nobody would unlock it) and then just "merge with the traffic" at the main door, knowing it would be way faster than standing at the end of the endless line.

About 10 seconds after I stood at that door, a sales associate came. I thought I was going to be told to go to the end of the line, but she unlocked my door. I was the first one in the store! I went straight back, grabbed my computer, and thought this was going to be the world's fastest in-and-out in Walmart history! Unfortunately the main doors had been opened as well by now and within seconds I was surrounded by 1,000's of people! Shoulder to shoulder...you just couldn't move! It took almost an hour to drag that computer back to the front of the store and check out.

So that's a summary of Black Friday in DuBois and my "mini triumph". Hopefully Jen will tell you on her Blog someday the Black Friday at Sears in DuBois that made her cry --- she fell victim to the DuBois madness! Above all, Black Friday in my hometown requires patience. As I talked about yesterday, advent is all about patience and waiting...but thankfully Black Friday falls just before advent and does not apply. hahaha

Theological Thursday --- Advent

This week began Advent --- The anticipatory waiting for the birth of the Messiah. Waiting is very difficult in our culture. We have E-Z Pass toll booths that you don't even need to slow down for on the highways, extra windows at the fast food drive thru to get you on your way faster, self check-out lines at the grocery store (as if we can do it better and faster), "Jiffy" Lube, "Quik" fill, online shopping, faster internet, 7-minute abs workout (now condensed to 2-minute abs), my personal favorite from Pensacola, FL...the drive-thru funeral home (pictured above), etc, etc, etc. Point is, our culture hates to wait!

I wish our churches would put more value into Advent as we eagerly wait and look forward to the day of Christ's birth. It is a much needed slow-motion in a fast-forward culture! Nobody understood this better than 2 people in the Christmas story --- Simon and Anna (Luke 2:21-40). Both were very old and had waited many years for the day that Messiah would be born. As Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, Simon immediate grabbed Him and began praising God (vs. 28-32). This also shows amazing patience in Mary and Joseph...after all, what would you do if some guy grabbed your newborn and starting swinging him around?

So this Advent season, don't be afraid to slow down and wait. As the culture wants us to be busier than ever over the next 20+ days, keep in mind the charge of the Psalmist to wait for the Lord above all else (Pslam 27:14). Here at the seminary, many of our foreign students laugh at our Nativity Sets...little baby Jesus is in the manger even though it isn't Christmas and He "hasn't been born yet". One of their many cool traditions is to set up the Nativity, and keep baby Jesus out until Christmas morning --- and that is something they wait for in anticipation every year. Shouldn't we do the same?

What's Up Wednesday --- December 3rd

1) Jen and I will be traveling to Pennsylvania tonight for a job interview on Thursday and Friday. There are blog posts that are completed and scheduled for tomorrow and Friday, so even though I won't be around, be sure to still check out those day's post!
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2) After our interview we plan on stopping to see Jen's sister Julie, husband Keith, and their 3 kids. Congratulations to them as we recently found out they are expecting their 4th. If they can keep up this pace, 10 years from now, they may have a baker's dozen!
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3) Sunday night we have our advent service at the church. Check out tomorrow's Theological Thursday for more on advent.
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4) I have a company magic show Monday night for a Christmas party. This will be the first of 3 scheduled for the holidays.
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5) Next week (Mon - Thurs) I will be running a retreat for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes senior staff. They are coming from all over the country, so please pray for their safety. This will be retreat #2 of 6 for them.

Time Warp Tuesday --- Thanksgiving 2008

Magical Monday --- The Long Distance Trick

Here is the "old" version of the trick. We updated it to have someone select an "invisible card" (basically just naming any card they want) and by calling my uncle Mike (also a magician) he is able to name the card.