A message from Geni Hulsey, president of the Church Bookstore Network:

In Houston we have just had our first cold front blow through. Elsewhere, some of you have already seen your first snow. There is no doubt we are into the fall season—both with weather and with retail.

I was shopping this weekend and saw all the stores working on their Christmas displays. What really dismayed me was that I saw very little sign of Thanksgiving. I think that the Thanksgiving holiday has become more about "black Friday" retail sales and football games than with giving thanks for that with which God has blessed us.

It seems that we, as a nation, have not only forgotten about Thanksgiving and its intended purpose, but we have forgotten to be thankful. Many time-honored traditions of thankfulness have disappeared.

Meal-time prayers of gratitude for provision are often skipped because members of the family eat at separate times. Handwritten notes of thanks for gifts and other kindnesses have all but disappeared. I recently read about an e-mail blast sent out by a newlywed to all who attended her wedding and sent gifts, thanking them. Somehow I think that was just one more thing on her "to-do" list.

Yet, there are more than 100 verses in the Scriptures that admonish us to be thankful, tell us how to be thankful or express the thankfulness of the writer. In Eph. 5:20 Paul sums it up by saying, "always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So to take one day and focus on those blessings that we have received throughout the year seems reasonable to me. Besides, I have always loved Thanksgiving. In addition to the food, there was always family-even in years when we lived far away from relatives, there was always "family." There was our church family, our neighbors, our friends.

We have a great opportunity in church bookstores to remind our congregation, as we go into the Christmas season, that there is still a Thanksgiving Day.

Timing is the key to this busy holiday retail season. We know that we cannot postpone putting our Christmas product out for too long or our customers will have started shopping in those stores who started displaying Christmas in September.

So, if we are going to bring attention to Thanksgiving and all that it means to us, we need to begin now—and hopefully next year, even earlier. Use fall colors to enhance any displays, perhaps fall leaves or nuts. Even if you don't carry gift items, you can enhance your book displays with items that speak of fall. You could print out copies of President Lincoln's Thanksgiving Declaration and his thanksgiving prayer.

With some inexpensive, simple frames you might build a display of books about the Thanksgiving holiday. Zonderkidz has some wonderful children's titles on the subject. My all-time favorite book on Thanksgiving is Barbara Rainey's Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember.

In your display you might put an empty bowl or basket with a pen and slips of gold and orange paper alongside. Ask your customers to take just a moment and write something for which they are thankful. You might even take a moment and pray with them, thanking God for all His blessings.

After Thanksgiving you could take this "bowl of thankfulness" to a staff meeting or to your pastor's office and share all that your customers are thankful for.

I know that the retail side of what we do presses us to think about Christmas and Christmas shoppers, but as you plan your schedule for displaying holiday products, don't forget Thanksgiving, such an important time of year.