Christmas Countdown, TV Schedule and Quick Thought – Sunday, December 12, 2021

13 Days Until Christmas!

Song: “White Christmas,” by Bing Crosby
Christmas Album: “A Motown Christmas,” by Various Artists
Christmas DVD: “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”
Netflix Movie: “Holiday In the Wild”
Amazon Prime Movie: “Christmas On the Carousel”
Disney+ Movie: “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”
Hulu Movie: “Christmas Perfection”
Hallmark Movie: “Sound of Christmas”
On TV:

New programming in bold
• “A Christmas Kiss,” noon, ION
• “A Dickens of a Holiday,” noon, Hallmark
• “My Favorite Christmas Melody,” noon, Lifetime
• “Arthur Christmas,” 1:05 p.m., Freeform
• “A Christmas Kiss II,” 2 p.m., ION
• “Eight Gifts of Hanukkah!” 2 p.m., Hallmark
• “Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas,” 2 p.m., Lifetime
• “O. Henry’s Full House,” 2 p.m., TCM
• “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000),” 3 p.m., FX
• “A Christmas Carol (2009),” 3:10 p.m., Freeform
• “Merry Kissmas,” 4 p.m., ION
• “My Christmas Family Tree,” 4 p.m., Hallmark
• “All About Christmas Eve,” 4 p.m., Lifetime
• “Christmas in Connecticut (1945),” 4:15 p.m., TCM
• “The Santa Clause,” 5:15 p.m., Freeform
• “Home Alone,” 5:30 p.m., FX
• “A Loud House Christmas,” 5:30 p.m., Nickelodeon
• “A Christmas in Vermont,” 6 p.m., ION
• “Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday,” 6 p.m., Hallmark
• “Hometown Christmas,” 6 p.m., Lifetime
• “Remember the Night,” 6:15 p.m., TCM
• “70th Miss Universe Pageant,” 7 p.m., FOX
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., AMC
• “The Santa Clause 2,” 7:25 p.m., Freeform
• “A Chef’s Life Holiday Special,” 8 p.m., PBS
• “A New Lease on Christmas,” 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., ION
• “The 15th Annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute,” 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., CNN
• “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” 8 p.m., FX
• “Sister Swap: Christmas in the City,” 8 p.m., Hallmark
• “Blending Christmas,” 8 p.m., Lifetime
• “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” 8 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., FXM
• Sunday Night Football: Chicago at Green Bay, 8:20 p.m., NBC
• “A Christmas Proposal,” 8:30 p.m., CBS
• “Good Luck, Charlie, It’s Christmas!” 8:40 p.m., Disney
• “Greatest Holiday Commercial Countdown 2021,” 9 p.m., CW
• “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,” 9:55 p.m., Freeform
• “Home Alone,” 10:30 p.m., FX
• “A Royal Queens Christmas,” 10:01 p.m., Hallmark
• “Christmas on the Menu” 10:03 p.m., Lifetime
Recipe: Southern Snowballs

Quick Thought for Christmas

Read

Isaiah 7:10-17
Matthew 1:18-25

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14

Reflect

Picture this situation.

Sweet little Mary McNamara came home one day with a big dilemma. She had some huge news – HUGE NEWS – to tell her parents. It would shake their world and change the course of her life, and she was sure they wouldn’t understand. No one would.

The only thing to do was take a deep breath and tell them. They’d find out eventually, and it would better if it came from her.

“Mom, Dad. I have something to tell you. A little more than a month ago, an angel came to me and told me I was going to have a baby, and that it would be God’s child. And I’ve never been with a guy. I mean, I’m dating Joe Carpenter, but we’ve never even been alone together. But that day, after the angel left, something felt different. And now I’ve missed my period, and I took a pregnancy test. And I’m definitely pregnant.”

Of course, her parents must have been so excited…

How would you have responded? How do you think they responded?

In Mary’s time, this could have meant death for her, especially if Joseph wasn’t so understanding. Fortunately, God spoke to Joseph’s heart, and he married her in spite of something so unexplainable – at least when looking at it as people naturally would.

Of course, this pregnancy was predicted more than 700 years earlier when Isaiah wrote that a virgin would conceive and have a son. It had to happen in order for God’s plan to be complete. But when it did happen, no one understood. They likely wrote it off as a naive young girl who simply got herself into trouble.

God does things in His own way and in His own timing. This Christmas season, look for the little miracles that God might do in and around you. Make sure you don’t discount His works and write them off as coincidence. And keep your heart focused on His constant presence as the day of Christmas draws ever nearer.