Have you been watching Christmas movies this season? I haven’t. It’s only because I have the attention span of a 2 year old when it comes to movies. This is especially sad for my husband, who likes movies. He says I used to like movies before we got married. I think the reason I “liked” movies before we got married was because seeing a movie together meant being together, but now we’re together frequently, so I don’t need the pretense of going to see a movie, you know what I mean?

But I digress. I recently saw some of A Charlie Brown Christmas (yes, I realize the whole thing is only 30 minutes, but I couldn’t stare at the TV for even that long!), and I liked what I saw. I like that at the end (so I’m told, because I didn’t get that far) the real reason for Christmas comes out when Linus recites to the depressed Charlie Brown the nativity story from Luke 2. I’m impressed that they didn’t say the real meaning of Christmas is “family” or some other mumbo jumbo.

The latest version of Miracle on 34th Street came out my freshman year of high school. After seeing it, my best friend and I were so inspired that we decided to wear either red or green to school everyday until Christmas. I’m sure she succeeded, because her wardrobe was much bigger than mine. I think I managed by wearing various Christmas earrings.

I do enjoy A Christmas Story. I’ve never seen It’s A Wonderful Life.

Last year, Matt and I saw The Nativity Story in the theater, and were really impressed. It’s consistent with the Scriptures and really brings the story - these events that actually happened a long time ago in a different place - to life. Sometimes it’s hard for me to picture what Mary and Joseph were like, and that they were human, with feelings and hopes familiar to us. I found that The Nativity Story greatly increased my faith, and I decided we should make it a tradition to watch it each Advent season. As our kids get old enough to sit for a movie, we plan to have them join us. Hmm, but if my movie ADD is genetic, that may never happen. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see.

My one issue with this movie is that the angel Gabriel looks like Cat Stevens, so says my husband. I didn’t know who Cat Stevens was, so I guess it wasn’t my issue. Still, you’ve been warned.

What are some of your favorite Christmas movies, and why?

I admit that Rob and I watch this reality TV show. Actually Beauty and the Geek is a social experiment as they like to call it.

The premise: put 8 beautiful women and 8 geeky guys in a house together, pair them up and see what happens. Will they learn from one another?

One reason why I like this TV show, besides the fact that it’s entertaining, is because the show breaks down stereotypes. The Beauties and the Geeks get to know one another as real people. The Geeks are typically intimidated by beautiful women and the women are typically turned off by the Geeks.

As the show progresses each pair of one Beauty and one Geek are giving challenges in which they need to learn from one another. For example, the Beauty is going to be tested on politics while the Geek will be tested in fashion. As they get to know each other both sides realize that they are all real people with feelings.

What I don’t like about the show is that one couple gets eliminated at the end of each week. The last team left wins! I wish there were no eliminations. It should all be point based so that each team can stay in the house and continue learning more about themselves and each other. But it’s not my show so I can’t make any changes.

If you want to watch Beauty and the Geek it’s on Tuesday nights at 8pm/7 pm central time, on the CW channel.

I read another historical fiction work this past year that I want to highly recommend to you – Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz.. This one isn’t as easy to read as A Thousand Splendid Suns but it was even more interesting to me and really bolstered my faith. It’s a little hard to get into at first and there’s no shortage of violence and drunken orgies. So, be warned. But, especially if you enjoy historical fiction, read it!

It’s the story of a young noble in Nero’s Rome who falls in love with a young woman who is a Christian. Jesus had only recently been crucified, and it’s fascinating to see what “being a Christian” meant in that time and place. Hint: Almost nothing like what we know it! There hadn’t been council after council picking apart the nuances of the Scripture, deciding on the most minute points of theology. It was raw. This man named Jesus was God’s own Son and died for us a few years ago! Believe He has paid your sins and you are accepted by God!

You might remember that Rome in the time of Nero was very decadent and godless. The protagonists’ love story is placed in this very sensual Roman culture, and it’s anything but boring. The characters and time period will came alive to you. It’s so much better than reading it from a textbook! I looked into the accuracy of the characters and events after finishing the book and I was pleased to see the author was very faithful to historical sources when constructing his tale. The apostles Peter and Paul are even characters in the book, and I find their words and actions to be consistent with what I know from Scripture.

Nero’s reign was also the time during which much of Rome was burned. You’ll recall Christians were blamed and sent to their deaths in horrific ways. Being thrown to the lions was one of the tamer ways to go, my friends! These parts were hard to read, but I couldn’t stop. It leaps off the page. It makes you question what you would have done and felt were you in their place. Their faith will build yours.

Quo Vadis is a Latin phrase that means, “Where are you going?” It’s from John 13:36, where Simon Peter asks Jesus this question. The author is Polish and the novel was originally published in 1896 in Polish, not Latin, as you might expect from the title. Perhaps I was especially interested by this book because I teach Latin and am interested the times of the Romans, but I’m fairly sure I liked it more because of its historical account of the early days of Christianity. For that reason, I think many of you will enjoy it, too.

I am really enjoying Mike’s series on knowing God. It is coinciding with a time of renewal in my own spiritual life, which is also cool.

Anyway, during Mike’s sermon today on reading the Bible, he mentioned various Bibles that are easy and helpful to read. I wanted to tell you about a children’s Bible that I think absolutely wonderful. My parents gave it to one of my daughters for Christmas, and I’ve learned so much from reading it to them.

The Jesus Storybook Bible talks about God’s Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love for us. The author uses each Bible story to show God’s redemptive love for us. I found myself often in tears as I read the stories to my kids.

I didn’t know I loved historical fiction until I read The Kite Runner a few years ago. Since then, I’ve read a lot of it because I feel like my knowledge of non-Western history is very limited, but I’m not into reading textbooks on the various dynasties of China, for example. I’d much rather learn my history in the context of a well-written story. Often this is a somewhat sad story, and for me it’s a good thing. I need to be reminded how blessed I am (otherwise I take my privileged life for granted and start seeing my blessings as rights instead of blessings), and how much this world – in all ages – has needed and will need the salvation and restoration our God brings.

If you’ve read The Kite Runner, you know the talent of Khaled Hosseini – his ability to tell an engaging, powerful, personal tale against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s heart-breaking history. A Thousand Splendid Suns is Hosseini’s second and latest novel, and one I highly recommend. I loved The Kite Runner, but I think I liked this one even more only because the main characters are women, and while I can in no way relate to their circumstances, I feel more connected to them just because they are women, and I think you will, too.

The story is of two women of very different backgrounds, generations, and even cultures in some ways, being thrust together in an unexpected way I hope you will not see coming. The book has several twists, and I don’t want to rob you of the pleasure of discovering them on your own.

The first part of the book focuses on Mariam, the older of the two women, who was born an outcast and married off at a young age to an, ahem, undesirable man. In the second part of the book we meet Laila, the second of the women, who at the time is an 8-year-old girl living a relatively privileged life on the same street that Mariam and her husband call home. They are brought together through an act of war and spend many years together, at first disliking each other but growing in love and hope together.

One aspect I appreciate about Hosseini’s books is the way they capture the reader’s attention and make Afghanistan’s sad, confusing history come to life through personal experience. Both of his books span decades. This one starts in the 60s and ends in 2003. It gives us insight on the war with the Soviet Union, the rule of the warlords and then the Taliban, and how the hope of the people rose with each new regime and then fell as life went from bad to worse every time. Even though Hosseini’s work is historical fiction, the characters and events are completely believable and none of the events seem sensationalized. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a quick read because it’s so enthralling. So, give it a chance! Order it from the Orange County library, which delivers to your door, by the way. You’ll be glad you did.