What Aisle Are The Happy Hearts On?

A while back, I talked about how VeggieTales was coming to television. We hadn't had a chance to watch it yet. Normally we are out and about on Saturday mornings, not at home watching tv. But this morning we were at home, trying to get Michael dressed. I turned on the tv, and there it was... VeggieTales on tv.

They picked my all-time favorite episode to show today, and I thought it was an awesome episode to show Thanksgiving weekend. The episode is called Madame Blueberry. Here is the synopsis of Madame Blueberry from the Big Idea website:

Why so blue? Because Madame Blueberry wants more stuff. Sure, she has everything she needs -- good friends, plenty of food, a nice treehouse to live in -- but some of her friends have a lot more. Sound familiar? Let your kids spend a little time with Madame Blueberry and the rest of the veggies and they'll learn that "being greedy makes you grumpy -- but a thankful heart is a happy heart!" Madame Blueberry teaches kids why God wants us to be thankful for what we have.

There is a fun exchange between Bob and Larry in the episode:

Bob the Tomato: Larry, how much stuff do you need to make you happy?
Larry the Cucumber: [Thoughtfully.] I don't know. How much stuff is there?

So while people are going to all kinds of crazy extremes to shop this weekend, VeggieTales is trying to teach kids that having more stuff is not what is going to make you happy. And yet moms and dads all over the country are out at the "StuffMarts" spending enormous amounts of money on the upcoming holidays.

It's sad. Do you know how many times I've heard people say, "Santa only gives something small in our house. Everything else comes from Mom & Dad. I don't want Santa getting all the credit."

Perhaps if we spent a little less time shopping for the perfect presents that will ensure our kids know how much we love them, and spent a little more time actually interacting with our kids... maybe then they too will have a happy heart.

Madame Blueberry wants what she sees that the Little Girl and Junior Asparagus have: a happy heart. "What aisle are the happy hearts on?", she asks. No happy hearts are available at StuffMart. That is not something you can buy.