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27. Christmas Market Day - Thursday Morning · Family Prayer Podcast

• 0:00
  Good morning, Grace Harbor - it’s Dan!
• 0:04
  Happy one-week-until Christmas!
• 0:05
  I’m sure you’re all getting excited.
• 0:08
  We sure are here in town.
• 0:10
  Main Street has certainly been a bit busier this week than normal.
• 0:14
  Everyone is wrapping up their preparations, buying last minute
• 0:18
  gifts, or getting ingredients for the big Christmas dinner.
• 0:21
  I’ve been waiting to finish my Christmas list
• 0:24
  because today is the day of the Grace Harbor Christmas Market!
• 0:29
  This is an event we hold down at the church where people
• 0:31
  bring homemade gifts and offer them for sale or trade.
• 0:36
  Part of what I love about it is that it’s open to everyone.
• 0:40
  You’ll find a table with beautiful handmade jewelry right next to a table
• 0:44
  of popsicle stick ornaments made by one of our elementary school classes!
• 0:49
  There really *is* something for everyone.
• 0:52
  Each gift comes with a tag letting you know who made it,
• 0:55
  and what they love about it,
• 0:57
  and what their Christmas wish is for the gift receiver.
• 1:00
  So, for example, this year I’m
• 1:03
  bringing some batches of my Grandma’s delicious thumbprint jelly cookies.
• 1:08
  The tag has my name on it, it says that I love these cookies
• 1:11
  because they are my Grandma Ruth’s special recipe, and my wish is
• 1:16
  that the cookies would bring the receiver a heart full of joy.
• 1:20
  If you were coming to our Christmas Market today, what might you bring?
• 1:25
  You can literally bring anything as long as it’s homemade!
• 1:29
  It could be a drawing, edible treats, ornaments,
• 1:32
  a poem, a painted rock… I really mean anything.
• 1:37
  And if you know what you want the receiver to feel when they get it,
• 1:40
  you can share that too.
• 1:42
  Take a few moments to talk about this as a family,
• 1:45
  and if you need more time, you can pause the podcast.
• 1:47
  I’ll be right here when you get back.
• 2:19
  You know, if this idea got you excited, it’s
• 2:22
  always something you could look at doing in your community next year!
• 2:26
  It doesn’t need to start as a big deal.
• 2:28
  You can just invite a few friends over and ask everyone to bring something
• 2:32
  to trade.
• 2:33
  Ok, let’s take some time today
• 2:36
  to practice our core discipline of intention setting.
• 2:40
  This is when we think about the things we have to do,
• 2:43
  and we also think about how we want to do them.
• 2:46
  For some of you, this next week might not be too busy.
• 2:50
  Here in Grace Harbor, today is actually the last day of school for the year!
• 2:54
  I know my daughter is planning on taking it easy tomorrow.
• 2:58
  For others, this might be one of your busiest seasons!
• 3:01
  For me, as a pastor, this is a really special time,
• 3:06
  but it also comes with a lot of extra events and things to stay on top of.
• 3:10
  Take a moment and think through the most important things
• 3:14
  you have to do or want to do in the next couple of days.
• 3:18
  If you find yourself thinking about too many things, just take a deep breath
• 3:23
  and focus on the most important one, two, or three things.
• 3:57
  For me,
• 3:58
  I was thinking about needing to finish my Christmas Eve sermon.
• 4:02
  That’s the short talk I give during the special church service.
• 4:06
  But I was also thinking about how, with school out starting tomorrow,
• 4:10
  it’s really important that I make time to play with my kids.
• 4:14
  Ok, now, I want you to think about how you want to do these important things.
• 4:19
  By that I mean what feeling do you want to have
• 4:22
  while you do these things, or what feeling do you want
• 4:26
  other people to have *because* you’re doing these things?
• 4:30
  For example, when I’m working on my Christmas Eve sermon,
• 4:33
  I want to be focused so I can do a good job but also get it done.
• 4:39
  When I get distracted, it takes a lot longer.
• 4:42
  But if I can get it done, that’ll mean I can be fully present with my kids
• 4:47
  and show them how much I love them by giving them my full attention.
• 4:51
  Ok, take a moment to think about that, and then we’ll close our
• 4:55
  time together with prayer.
• 5:09
  Dear God, we thank you
• 5:11
  for all of the important things we get to do over the next week.
• 5:15
  Some of it will be work, and hopefully a lot of it will be fun!
• 5:19
  Help us to do these things in a way that honors you and the people we love.
• 5:24
  Amen.
• 5:25
  Ok, Grace Harbor!
• 5:27
  Have a great Thursday, and I’ll talk to you tonight.