It's a Wonderful Life

I smile when posts come through my Facebook feed saying, "Only 56 more days 'til Christmas' [or whatever the number may be].  Christmas is rapidly approaching and will be here before we know it.

I thoroughly enjoy watching the 1946 movie, It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas Season.  A couple years ago I purchased It's a Wonderful Life trivia game for our family to play on Christmas Eve.  I told everyone to be sure to watch the movie before coming.  It was loads of fun.

Recently the book came through my Facebook feed, 52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life.  It piqued my interest so I ordered it and it arrived yesterday.

The author said at the beginning of the book that a bank in the city where he lives has a requirement for all new employees going through orientation to watch a series of scenes from It's a Wonderful Life.  The bank president said the message in the film is the message he wants employees to come to work with every day: the idea that our actions make a difference in the community around us.

Each time the author watched the movie he'd jot down some teachable moments or lessons and before he knew it he had accumulated 52 nuggets of wisdom for every week of the year.

I thought it would be fun to go through the book and pick a lesson for everyone in our family to read on Christmas Eve.  

Just to give you an idea, Lesson 1 is about the opening scene when two angels high in the heavens [represented by two pulsing stars] named Joseph and Franklin are discussing who might be sent down to earth to deal with a suicidal man named George Bailey.   Joseph suggest it's an angel named Clarence's turn, although he laments, "He's got the I.Q. of a rabbit."  "Yes," says Franklin, "but he's got the faith of a child - simple."  The lesson is, God Honors Our Childlike Faith."

Below is my collection of "It's a Wonderful Life" memorabilia that is quickly growing.

I gave the large brown cover book to my dad when he was still alive.  It's the 50th Anniversary Scrapbook.  When he passed away I asked my mom if I could have it.  Now it's 78 years since the film's release.

Since I'm a pushover for cookbooks, I ordered two It's a Wonderful Life cookbooks today.  One is written by Karolyn Grimes who played ZuZu Bailey in the movie.  The pics are screen shots from Amazon's website so I apologize the focus isn't sharper.

I'm hoping I can get a few good recipes from the books to make on Christmas Eve to coordinate with It's a Wonderful Life theme.

Are you starting to think about Christmas?