Christmas 2023-New Year 2024

jasmine tarkheena

jasmine tarkheena

Active member
I would like to wish everyone on here a Merry Christmas!🎄I wonder if anyone has a favorite Holiday movie or special! I grew up watching A Charlie Brown Christmas! It even has a moment where Linus shares about Baby Jesus!

Since it's pretty late in the year, I thought we could share about our plans for the new year, 2024 or if anyone has a new year's resolution!
 
On the night before New Year's Eve, Wood Nymph and I plan to attend a metal-music show at Denver's Oriental Theater. It includes Cryptic Writings, the Megadeth-tribute band with whose members we are personal friends. Just a few hours ago, we sang in the choir at our church's Christmas Eve service. Yes, we have broadly inclusive tastes in music.
 
It's weird to me that I don't necessarily have a favorite, although there's some I'll watch every few years like "Home Alone." This year my mom, a friend and I watched "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," a 2008 Hallmark that was light on the romance and heavy on the humor.

My friend who loves Charlie Brown too has this system of identifying goals for the New Year by category that I have adopted. I'm still working on that. Separate though is one simple resolution, to make a gratitude list every day. I'll simply write down what I'm thankful for. It could be a sentence ("I'm blest with rest!) or just a word (Heater). I do have a lot to be thankful for. I usually drive Uber on New Year's Eve and, while I still might some, I'm thinking about some last minute plans with a few of my buds this time.
 
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nativity lawn light.jpg

Tirian,
I have been filling in Thankful Calendars for decades now, utilizing extra calendars and writing what I am thankful for from the day before in the corresponding boxes. This practice has been healing and freeing, and I heartily recommend it to all who would like to cultivate a spirit of peace, patience and openess.

Recently I added another step -- taking my thankful list for the day and reflecting on what attributes of God they highlight so I am also drawn into praise and focusing on God's character.

Thank you Jasmine for starting this thread for Christmas 2023 and New Year's 2024! One film that I make a point to watch each year is "Amahl and the Night Visitors," a one-act opera that builds a "what-if story" based on the journey of the wise men to Bethlehem and an fictional overnight encounter with a poor shepherd family.

Copperfox, I have enjoyed going to performances during this season too. My favorite concert this year was Bach's Christmas Oratorio --with my son singing in the bass section! So glad to hear that you and Wood Nymph got to sing in a Christmas Eve choir!

Another family tradition is to go somewhere peaceful as a family to pray and think about goals for the new year on January 1.
blessings,
BĂ©nisse
 
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BENISSE, the metal show I mentioned yielded an opportunity for ME to be "blessed to BE a blessing."

The band which came on after Cryptic Writings was one that Wood Nymph and I had never seen before. They added extra musical color by having a VIOLIN in the ensemble. Unfortunately, a horribly-timed technical failure deprived the violinist of her audio EXACTLY at what was supposed to be her best passage.

When this band had finished its set, I beelined for the violinist, so I could tell her I admired her for NOT losing her composure when robbed of her special moment. This raised her spirits at least a bit. So I told her about Dancing Lawn.
 
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