Advent Goes to the Movies!

Part of marriage is the blending of traditions to make new family traditions. One of the places where this is seen the clearest is in Christmas. There is a give and take. 

When Linc and I first met we each had a very specific tradition. At the beginning of Advent I would watch A Muppet Christmas Carol. The weekend before Christmas Linc would watch, MST3K: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Yes, it was ripped on a VHS and featured those old commercial breaks. We made it our tradition to watch both movies. Eventually it morphed into a weekly movie experience. Now our tradition is as follows:

• Week One: A Muppet Christmas Carol
• Week Two:  National Lampoon: Christmas Vacation
• Week Three: A Christmas Story
• Week Four: MST3K: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians 

Linc reminded me, early this year, of our list when he said we wanted to add A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Mickey Christmas Carol to it. It made me realize we have surrounded our season with films. Halloween we watch A Nightmare Before Christmas and Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. Christmas Eve we watch, It's a Wonderful Life. It got me thinking, could Advent draw on those movies we love and connect them to a Christian context? 

So for Advent we will be going to Hollywood and drawing connections from some of our holiday favorites. This list won't look like my personal family list. I give them to you today so the DVR's can be set, we can pull out the popcorn, and celebrate the Christmas season together.

• Hope: Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44  It's a Wonderful Life (Free to watch on Youtube.)
• Peace: Matthew 3:1-12; Isaiah 11:1-10  National Lampoons: Christmas Vacation.
• Joy: Luke 1:46b-55 Rudolph
• Love: Matthew 1:18-25; Romans 1:1-7 Frosty the Snowman