Empty Shelves

I guess I wasn't shocked. Maybe I was just surprised. I didn't expect to see Valentine candy for sale on December 27.

Most stores have a special section, near the door, reserved for seasonal and holiday merchandise. They know what's on your mind, and they want to be the first to offer you just what you need for that upcoming big day.

When Halloween is over, Thanksgiving will soon arrive, so stores replace the candy corn and scary masks with pilgrim and turkey items. When Thanksgiving is past (or almost), Christmas items replace the items that you needed for that fourth Thursday in November.

But Valentines goods right after Christmas? It seems ridiculous. Couldn't the stores just leave an empty shelf for a week or two? We have lost the idea of 'space in between,' or margins.

Maybe I'm 'the pot calling the kettle black.' Every Monday, I make a list of everything I'd like to get done in the upcoming week. Then I jump in and fill every minute, hoping to get everything on the list completed before the next Monday comes around. I never get it all done. There is no breathing room.

Psalm 46:10 reads, "Be still, and know that I am God." Maybe I thought it said, "Fly along, and know that I am God."