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40. Reflecting on Advent and Christmas - Friday Evening · Family Prayer Podcast

• 0:00
  Good evening, Grace Harbor. It’s Dan.
• 0:03
  I hope your Christmas week ended well,
• 0:06
  whether you had a slow day like us or got up to something exciting.
• 0:10
  Tonight, we’ll reflect on our week, like we normally do.
• 0:13
  But some weeks offer natural opportunities to look back
• 0:17
  over a longer stretch of time,
• 0:19
  and I think the end of Advent is one of those opportunities.
• 0:23
  So, if you’re not too tired, let’s start with a pop quiz.
• 0:27
  Each of our last four weeks in Advent has had a theme for us to focus on.
• 0:32
  Can you remember the four themes?
• 0:34
  Don’t worry about the order, just see if you can remember
• 0:37
  all four.
• 0:47
  The four themes of Advent
• 0:50
  were hope, peace, joy, and love.
• 0:54
  Did you get them?
• 0:55
  And for a bonus point,
• 0:57
  can you remember any of the mini holidays we celebrated along the way?
• 1:11
  This one might have been a bit harder!
• 1:13
  We celebrated Christmas Card Day, Gingerbread House Day,
• 1:18
  Wright Brothers Day, and of course our own special holiday Gratituesday.
• 1:22
  I’ll also count the Longest Night,
• 1:25
  which was technically over the weekend, but we did talk about it last Friday.
• 1:30
  Ok, I’m going to lead you through three reflection questions,
• 1:34
  and if it’s not too late, I encourage you to take your time.
• 1:37
  Plan on pausing the podcast, and if something someone shares
• 1:41
  leads to more questions or a deeper discussion, feel free to keep talking.
• 1:46
  I’ll be here when you get back.
• 1:48
  And if it is getting late, adults, you could always make a note
• 1:51
  of a question or conversation you’d like to pick back up this weekend.
• 1:55
  Let’s start with this question:
• 1:57
  Which of the four Advent themes did you like the most and why?
• 2:02
  Remember, the themes were hope, peace, joy, and love.
• 2:07
  For me, I really like joy
• 2:09
  because it’s about choosing what to focus on.
• 2:13
  Life can be busy or I can be feeling mad or sad
• 2:16
  about something, and yet I can still choose to be joyful
• 2:20
  about the fact that God is with me through the tough times.
• 2:24
  Take a moment and share you answer with each other.
• 2:57
  Our second question is:
• 2:58
  what was your favorite thing you did during Advent this year and why?
• 3:02
  So, anything from the beginning of December up until Christmas Eve.
• 3:07
  For me, it has to be the Christmas Tree Lighting and block
• 3:10
  party way back during the first week of December.
• 3:13
  We get to celebrate with our whole town, there’s tons of fun stuff to do,
• 3:17
  and our church has a cookie booth where we give away 500 cookies
• 3:20
  as a way of saying to our neighbors, “We’re grateful for you!” How about you?
• 3:25
  What was your favorite thing that you did this Advent?
• 3:28
  Go ahead and share your answers when you’re
• 3:38
  ready.
• 4:00
  For our last question,
• 4:02
  let’s focus in on this week and the celebration of Christmas.
• 4:06
  When was a time this week that you really felt the Christmas spirit?
• 4:10
  For me, it was at the Christmas Eve service when we lit our candles
• 4:14
  and sang Silent Night.
• 4:15
  Watching everyone pass the light to each other and seeing the room
• 4:19
  slowly go from darkness to a warm glow gets me every year.
• 4:24
  Once you’ve got your answer, go ahead and share it with each other.
• 4:57
  Thank you for doing that, and thank you for being a part
• 5:00
  of our brand new podcast community this Advent.
• 5:03
  Whether you’ve been with listening since December 1,
• 5:06
  or you’ve joined us along the way, it means a lot that you’re here now.
• 5:10
  I hope that you’ve found our time together to be meaningful.
• 5:14
  Now, I wanted to let you know that I’m going to take next week
• 5:17
  off from the podcast to rest and spend time with my family.
• 5:21
  I foresee a visit or two to Auden and Brookie’s Ice Cream & Cookies
• 5:25
  as well as a few walks through the Pine Preserve in my future.
• 5:28
  But don’t worry, I’ll be back on Monday, January 5,
• 5:31
  as you get ready to head back to school in the new year.
• 5:35
  I encourage you to keep practicing these disciplines
• 5:37
  as a family over the break, so here are a couple of options.
• 5:41
  You can revisit your favorite episodes from the last month, or any
• 5:45
  you may have missed.
• 5:46
  Or, each morning and evening you can share one thing
• 5:49
  you’re grateful for and say a quick prayer of thanks for these things.
• 5:53
  You could also take the time you would have spent listening to the podcast
• 5:57
  and make next week’s Gratituesday extra special.
• 6:01
  Ok, let’s pray.
• 6:03
  “Dear God, we thank you for hope,
• 6:06
  peace, joy, and love.
• 6:09
  They’re not just nice things to think about, but they’re gifts from you.
• 6:13
  As we celebrate the season of Christmas, may they continue to guide us.
• 6:18
  Watch over us this next week as we rest and play.
• 6:22
  Amen.” Alright, Grace Harbor!
• 6:24
  Have an amazing end to the year, and I’ll talk to you
• 6:27
  in 2026!