[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is the Morning Journey Rewind with Mark and Brittany. Never miss a moment.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: This week on the Morning Journey podcast, Mark and Brittany tell you about the Journey's Christmas giveaway. Firefighters get a special treat on Thanksgiving. And Tony calls to tell you what to do with those Thanksgiving leftovers. Also, are you decorated for Christmas yet? And next time you're in church, try raising your hands during worship. There are health benefits.
[00:00:22] Speaker C: Go to a MyJourney FM's Facebook page. You can watch a video that tells you all about a hometown Christmas. But there's something you in the video that you have to pay close attention to because somebody will be winning a special gift from the Journey.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe you've watched it. It was our little Countdown to Christmas video. It is still pinned to the top of our page. Now, if you go back through it, we want you to be looking for star emojis. There are several star emojis in the video. If you comment with the correct number of star emojis that you find, you'll be entered in to win a Journey hometown Christmas little gift basket giveaway. And so we want you to be watching it closely. I will be honest, I could not find them all. So they are hidden very, very well. So make sure you look for star emojis. Comment with how many you think are in the video. If you are correct, we will throw all the correct names into a basket for our drawing for that Journey hometown Christmas basket. So play along with us at my Journey FM on Facebook.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Your day starts with encouragement the Morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:01:23] Speaker C: Well, your firefighters and your first responders are those that have to work on Thanksgiving day. But for the second year in a row, 11 fire stations got a special treat. Boxes of cookies.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: I love this. Yeah, Luke, he's 10. He raised money all by himself to purchase some cookies. And then this is the second year he's done this. He delivered boxes to 11 fire stations on Thanksgiving day to all the first responders who are working. And it's just a great reminder that, you know, just because you have the day off and get to spend with your family, there are a lot of people who don't have that same luxury and don't get to do that because let's face it, like if you burn that turkey, the fire department's gonna have to come and rescue you. We actually set off the smoke alarm at our Thanksgiving.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: Did you really?
[00:02:07] Speaker B: Yep. My mother in law, we had the Mac and cheese baking and I think the top of it started to burn a little bit. And so the smoke alarm Went off. Luckily there was no actual fire, so we were fine.
[00:02:16] Speaker C: That happens. I know some. Usually every year you'll hear about somebody who's frying a turkey and they'll set it on. They'll set it on fire.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Yes, those are dangerous because if you drop them in still frozen, they will like, it'll almost like explode. So big. Thanks to Luke though, for thinking about those who are working. I mean, 10 years old, thinking about the fire department giving them some cookies to eat.
[00:02:37] Speaker D: I just kind of channel surfing through the radio.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: Families are catching on and I'm like, wow, this is pretty cool to the best way.
[00:02:43] Speaker D: But now this is the only thing.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: I listen to now to wake up.
[00:02:45] Speaker D: My style of everything has started and changed.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:02:50] Speaker C: One of the great things about Thanksgiving is, is the leftovers. And I enjoyed ours on Friday, especially the. I mentioned this earlier. We had a squash casserole that was really, really good. I think that was my favorite. That was my favorite part of the meal.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Wow. I was gonna say one of the great things or one of the not so great things if you don't love the leftovers.
[00:03:11] Speaker C: I found out my mom has always made a turkey. I did not know that she didn't really like turkey. I found that out this Thanksgiving.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: I don't really know anybody who's like, yeah, yeah, let's eat turkey. Or yeah, let's eat ham. So after the, after we ate, we all looked at each other and I was like, well, we did it. We ate the obligatory Thanksgiving meal. Once again, once a year, everybody puts a piece of ham and a piece of turkey on their plate because they feel like they have to. But nobody really enjoys those things. I mean, I've been eating leftovers. So you didn't host it. So you only had leftovers like while you were still in the Virginia beach area?
[00:03:44] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: So when you came back here, you were done with leftovers. I've been eating leftovers since basically Wednesday because we had company in town on Wednesday and we made spaghetti for them. So like the whole rest of the week I've been eating either spaghetti or Thanksgiving leftovers. And then it comes in question, like, how long are the Thanksgiving leftovers good for? Yeah, like, can I eat them today?
[00:04:05] Speaker B: I don't know. Maybe.
I have no idea.
[00:04:08] Speaker C: I don't eat them after.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: Like Sunday, Saturday after Saturday?
[00:04:15] Speaker C: Yeah, usually like if I'm at my folks house three days, if I take anything home after Saturday, I don't eat them anymore.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: Well, I'm gonna eat Some today and we'll see how it goes. I'll let you know if I get sick.
Oh, the phone's ringing. Let's see who it is.
[00:04:28] Speaker D: Tony.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Okay, Tony, tell me why you're calling.
[00:04:30] Speaker D: I don't like throwing away leftover. So my wife gets a deep dish. It puts pie shell in it, and I layer all the leftovers. Like it's starting the next day after Thanksgiving. The dressing, the turkey, the Mac and cheese, the ham, the green, like the squash casserole he was talking about.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:51] Speaker D: Candy again. And keep layering this stuff up.
Put a pie shell on it and she cooks it. And then after another day or two, I freeze it.
But you need gravy. You need gravy because, you know, to get a little dry on you. And some people put the.
The cranberry on there. I usually do that on the side.
[00:05:11] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:05:12] Speaker D: So I just make a big. I think y'.
[00:05:14] Speaker C: All.
[00:05:14] Speaker D: I got hungry listen to y'.
[00:05:16] Speaker B: All.
[00:05:16] Speaker D: But anyway, so.
[00:05:17] Speaker C: So you do a leftover. A leftover pie, basically.
[00:05:21] Speaker D: That's exactly right. And just layer it up.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: Right.
[00:05:24] Speaker D: And it's really good. Now, some people don't like it mixed up like that, but I like it fine. I'm in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Listen to you every day.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: Thank you. Thanks so much.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: From the alarm to the workplace, helping you start your day.
[00:05:36] Speaker D: I'm on my way to work.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:05:40] Speaker C: All right, so the big question is, Thanksgiving is over. Is the house now decorated?
[00:05:45] Speaker B: It is now fully decorated. Yes. I decorated everything yesterday. Stella helped me hang some of the ornaments on the tree, the ones that she likes. She wanted to put all at the bottom, which is fine. But I was like, okay, but we have to go around the tree. Like, not all in one place. Like, you can put them on the bottom so you can play with them, but like around the tree. So we did the tree, we decorated the whole house, and everything is finally Christmas. Do you decorate it all for Christmas?
[00:06:07] Speaker C: Not a whole lot because I'm usually at my folks house or at my sister's house. So not.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Do you have a tree?
[00:06:13] Speaker C: I have put up a tree before.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:06:15] Speaker C: All right.
I have done it.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: Is it up now?
[00:06:17] Speaker C: No, it is not.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: Come on.
[00:06:20] Speaker C: There is a house. I think I've mentioned this. There is a house in my neighborhood. I don't know that I've ever seen a house with this many lights on it.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: Really?
[00:06:28] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. And it's been like that way. They started decorating, I think it was like in October.
[00:06:32] Speaker B: I'm have to go over there.
[00:06:33] Speaker C: They had it set up. I'll take a picture tomorrow morning when I come in.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: Yeah, that's cool. Our neighbors across the street have had theirs up for a while. We put ours up before Thanksgiving, but I wouldn't let Phil turn them on.
He did it like the weekend before just so it'd be ready after Thanksgiving. But I didn't let him turn them on until after. On Friday. I was like, okay, now you can set the timers and turn the lights on.
[00:06:53] Speaker C: You have very specific rules.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: I have very specific rules about how we decorate and when we decorate.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: More importantly, start on a positive note. You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:07:06] Speaker C: So many people raise their hands in worship. It's a connection to God. It's a connection to the music. It's surrendering to God. But now we're learning that there are health benefits to lifting our hands in worship.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: Now I have a confession to make. I am not a hand raiser.
[00:07:22] Speaker C: I'm not either. I didn't grow up in a church, really, when I was a kid where much of that was done.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: I think about as high as my hands get is like chest level. That's about as high as I get. I'm not full up in the air. But if you are fully up in the air, then surrender. Surrendering your. Putting your hands up like that actually pumps blood back to your heart. So it increases your blood rushing to your heart, which strengthens your heartbeat, boosting your circulation instantly. It also increases oxygen to your brain, which makes it suddenly feel clearer and stronger and more overwhelming.
[00:07:56] Speaker C: Do you feel, well, I'm doing it now.
I feel smarter and clearer.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: See? See? And this posture also like you were talking about Mark, it's. It signals the nervous system to release tension and inner calm. It's the perfect posture of surrender. And it puts us in a state of calm to encounter God. And so, I mean, we see it a lot in scripture, lifting up our holy hands. And so now we know there are actual benefits to doing so in worship and preparing our hearts for what we're going to hear in those songs. And so I'm not a hand lifter, but maybe I'll give it a try.
[00:08:28] Speaker C: But I love seeing people that do it.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: Me too.
[00:08:30] Speaker C: You know, when I'm in a service, I've got relatives that do it and you just see that expression. You see it on their face and the connection that they have there to, like I said to God and how they're worshiping. I love to see people doing it.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: It really does make a difference and it is cool to see. So maybe I'll go from like the chest up in the air. We'll see what happens.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: Good company makes for a great day. The Morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:08:58] Speaker C: Journey and Child Evangelism Fellowship have a Christmas gift for you. It's an opportunity to to see Mac Powell's Christmas concerts, two of them this Friday, December 5th, and then again on Sunday. Details
[email protected] the last concert of the year and some people had an opportunity to win tickets.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Hopefully you filled out the form because we have our winners this morning. Winning tickets to see him on Friday is Cami K, David and Kevin. And then winning tickets to see him On Sunday the 7th is Jay, Katherine, Dean and Kim. Congratulations. You will be celebrating the Christmas season with the former lead singer of third day, Mac Powell and Child Evangelism Fellowship. So congratulations. We'll be telling you how to get those tickets here real soon. And if you didn't win those tickets, then you can always purchase your
[email protected].
[00:09:46] Speaker A: Uplifting and encouraging because you need it now more than ever.
[00:09:50] Speaker D: You betcha.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: The Morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:09:54] Speaker C: Back in 2023, Chris says he felt depressed. He had retired from work. He felt isolated, and the dark days of winter really weren't helping much. And then he got an idea to start cooking soup and give it away to people in his community. And that began what is now known as super Sunday.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: This is taking off. It's turned into a giant Facebook group with over 6,000 people who will post like, I made this soup today. Who needs a bowl? And then they will connect with the person and figure out how to get them a bowl of soup. And so obviously it's location based. So it's like different groups have popped up in different areas. But I love this idea. And I mean, it doesn't even have to be soup. I just love the idea of reaching out to our community and being like, hey, who needs a meal today? Like, I've made this casserole or this soup or this crock pot meal. I have leftovers, especially after Thanksgiving. We've been talking about all the leftovers we have. Who needs a meal?
[00:10:45] Speaker C: Yeah. And I thought it was also great the way that it started. I mean, he felt depressed, he felt isolated. So he decided, I'm gonna do something for the people in my community. And now look at it as you mentioned, like 6,000, almost 6,000 people are part of this Facebook group. It spread to like Three states.
[00:11:02] Speaker B: I feel like a lot of times when we're depressed, we feel like we don't have a purpose. And so like by giving back, not only does giving back always make you feel good, but now you know he has a purpose and he's helping his neighbors who probably are also feeling depressed and don't know where their next meal is going to come from. So overall, I think it's a great idea and I think every community should have a group like this so that we can feed our neighbors in a really practical way.
[00:11:25] Speaker D: I just kind of channel surfing through the radio.
[00:11:27] Speaker A: Families are catching on and I'm like, wow, this is pretty cool to the best way.
[00:11:31] Speaker D: But now this is the only thing I listen to now to wake up. My style of everything has started and changed.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: It's the Morning Journey with Mark and.
[00:11:38] Speaker C: Brittany Journey staff getting ready for the Lynchburg Christmas Parade.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: We're so excited. This year's theme is trees. And so I will be dressed up, hint, hint, as a tree. I wore this tree to the Kane concert. So if you went to the Kane concert and saw me there, it's the same tree.
I don't think the city of Lynchburg will mind too much if the glitter from it falls off. I feel bad for the Liberty Live church out in Hampton though, because it was shedding pretty bad. But we are so excited. The parade starts at 4pm on Sunday. It starts at Hill City Stadium, goes all the way to EC Glass. And so if you are going to be out there, be sure to wave. We will have candy. I've been told not to throw it. I've learned my lesson.
[00:12:16] Speaker C: I have seen the bags gently hand it out.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Yes. So we're excited. Hope to see you there.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Start on a positive note. You're on the Morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:12:28] Speaker C: Everybody's making those holiday plans. Got back from Thanksgiving and maybe you're going to see family again for the holidays. We all like to think of this time of year, that it's a great time with family. We certainly hope that that is true for you. But for many it can be a time of some family stress. Create some anxiety for some people.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Yes. But there are some things you can do to kind of ease that stress. One of those things is lowering your expectations. We all have these expectations about how the holiday should go, how it should be. And sometimes we stress out so much about that that we don' and enjoy the activities that we're doing with the family. And the other one I like, this one is have an escape route. It doesn't mean escape your family, like get away from them, but it does kind of mean just take necessary breaks. A lot of time we sit down for a meal, the meal turns into an activity, the activity turns into something else. And you have no breaks from family the whole time you're with them. And breaks are necessary.
[00:13:19] Speaker C: Yeah. So some ideas on that, like, maybe just go for a walk, you know, if you could get outside for a little bit, be the one that volunteers to go to the store. Hey, I'll go pick that up if we need it, you know, and it gives you an opportunity to kind of get away from whatever tension there may be. Just for a little bit.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Yeah. I think sometimes just getting away and resetting is so helpful. One of the things, too, is to focus on what's real. Focus on the faith of the holiday, the real reason why we celebrate. Remembering that Jesus is, and it sounds cliche, but it's true. The reason for the season. And if we focus on that, we'll love others better because we'll be thinking about how God loved us so much that he sent his son.
[00:13:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's the most important thing, is to really focus on the true meaning of Christmas, that is the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that stays first in your mind, that will help you get through. Not just Christmas helps you get through any situation.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: Thanks for catching up on the morning Journey Rewind podcast with Mark and Brittany.
