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 a teachable moment or lesson 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 in the film 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 suggests 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?