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beautiful big snowflake on a blue background.

One of my favorite old movies is the “Sound of Music” (minus just a couple scenes). When I first saw the movie many years ago, I kind of felt like I could somewhat relate to Maria (played by Julie Andrews) in personality, character, and actions (especially in the early part of the movie). Interestingly, before I had ever seen the movie, one of my close friends told me that I reminded her of Maria in the movie, but that’s not the main reason I like it. There are so many positive things that we can take from that movie, and the one I’m going to focus on in this blog is the song that Maria sang to all the children when they were afraid of the thunderstorm.

During this unusually difficult time of isolation and stress for some people as we all are experiencing the pandemic of Covid-19, it is a good time to think about some of your “favorite things”- things for which you are thankful. You are going to have to choose to turn off the news, and choose to bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” as it says in II Corinthians 10:5, and to practice obeying what Philippians 4:8 says: “whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Although sometimes it will be more difficult to stay cheerful, positive, and focused on those “favorite things”, especially in times of pain, suffering, and lamenting, II Thessalonians 5:14-24 (and lots of other Scriptures) has some simple instructions and an uplifting message for us. I encourage you to look those verses up soon.

First, those of you who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ may be experiencing a lot of fear, worry, and anxiety; so my recommendation to you, is to use this time to really seek God through the Bible, and get to know Him personally as His child.

If He is already your Lord, then you can start by thinking about, and then focusing on some of your “favorite things” that bring you happiness. For me, most of those things would be found in God and His creation, like beautifully colored sunsets, rainbows, birds, and butterflies. Other things that bring me joy are the smiles and laughter of babies and children, the variety of songs that the birds sing, and the many different kinds, colors, and behaviors of dogs and cats (especially puppies and kittens). I also enjoy listening to praise and worship music, and writing blogs with the purpose of trying to encourage my readers.

Now, I have a creative challenge for you: See if you can put some of your favorite things to the tune of “These are a few of my favorite things”, and message the words of your song to me; then, I will you and post your name and song on a future blog soon.