Gather 'round the yuletide log, folks, because Matt, Nate, and Loretta are here to fill your stockings with a Christmas Special Recap that's as stuffed with joy as Santa's sleigh. Ever been up to your elbows in soapy water, wondering if the mountain of dishes will ever end? Or perhaps you've lost a sock or twenty in the laundry abyss? Join us as we swap tales from the trenches of household chores, chuckle over the multiplying magic of kids' clothing, and share our secret weapons against the tide of domesticity. It's a heartwarming hodgepodge of homemaking hilarity that just might help you tackle your own festive clean-up with a little more cheer.
Just when you thought the merriment was confined to the kitchen, we sprint onto the field with a discussion on Ezekiel Elliott's shimmering legacy—from his storied leap into the Salvation Army kettle to his recent touchdown with the New England Patriots. The energy at Gillette Stadium is palpable as we recount Zeke's knack for lighting up children's faces and explore the butterfly effect of his charitable acts. Plus, we've got the scoop on what it's like to snap a selfie with a sports star and the peculiar charm of gifting meal kit subscriptions—because who wouldn't want to unwrap a poached egg maker?
Cap off your eggnog with a side of side-splitting laughter in our Christmas Mad Gabb Game Challenge. You're invited to join the commotion as we, your humble hosts, go head-to-head decoding jumbled jingles, with Loretta keeping us honest on the score. We're pushing the clock, tripping over our tongues, and having a ball with every festive phrase—no silent nights here! And if you've got a competitive streak, warm up your vocal cords for our Christmas Singing Conversation, where we twist and shout our way through a garland of garbled holiday classics. Tune in and get ready for a holiday hoedown that's sure to make your spirits bright!
Gather 'round the yuletide log, folks, because Matt, Nate, and Loretta are here to fill your stockings with a Christmas Special Recap that's as stuffed with joy as Santa's sleigh. Ever been up to your elbows in soapy water, wondering if the mountain of dishes will ever end? Or perhaps you've lost a sock or twenty in the laundry abyss? Join us as we swap tales from the trenches of household chores, chuckle over the multiplying magic of kids' clothing, and share our secret weapons against the tide of domesticity. It's a heartwarming hodgepodge of homemaking hilarity that just might help you tackle your own festive clean-up with a little more cheer.
Just when you thought the merriment was confined to the kitchen, we sprint onto the field with a discussion on Ezekiel Elliott's shimmering legacy—from his storied leap into the Salvation Army kettle to his recent touchdown with the New England Patriots. The energy at Gillette Stadium is palpable as we recount Zeke's knack for lighting up children's faces and explore the butterfly effect of his charitable acts. Plus, we've got the scoop on what it's like to snap a selfie with a sports star and the peculiar charm of gifting meal kit subscriptions—because who wouldn't want to unwrap a poached egg maker?
Cap off your eggnog with a side of side-splitting laughter in our Christmas Mad Gabb Game Challenge. You're invited to join the commotion as we, your humble hosts, go head-to-head decoding jumbled jingles, with Loretta keeping us honest on the score. We're pushing the clock, tripping over our tongues, and having a ball with every festive phrase—no silent nights here! And if you've got a competitive streak, warm up your vocal cords for our Christmas Singing Conversation, where we twist and shout our way through a garland of garbled holiday classics. Tune in and get ready for a holiday hoedown that's sure to make your spirits bright!
Hello everyone, welcome back to the Plugged In podcast, the Christmas special Part two. Yeah, part two, sorry, nate.
Speaker 2:I just stole your line. I was going to say Merry Christmas to everyone. You still can Merry Christmas to everyone.
Speaker 1:There it is.
Speaker 3:I know we've said like multiple times in previous episodes, if we have like a Thanksgiving special or a Christmas special, we say like mid-episode. So I've been thinking say it first or get it in there first.
Speaker 1:Yeah, get it out. No, not get it out of the way.
Speaker 2:Start us off, set the tone. Set the tone.
Speaker 1:I like that. Well, my name is Matt. I'm the music director here in the Massachusetts division. I'm joined by my co-host of the Plugged In podcast, nate and Loretta Guys, it's always fun to sit down and do this. Hey, we love it.
Speaker 3:I know, this is so much fun.
Speaker 1:Ready for the opening rant.
Speaker 3:Give it to me.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what's your household chore that you just like? The one above all others that you just hate.
Speaker 3:It's tied between dishes and laundry.
Speaker 2:I don't mind dishes. I don't like folding laundry.
Speaker 1:Folding laundry is near the top of my list. Dishes is my top and it's because our like sink in our house is in like an awkward corner of the kitchen and to pull down the dishwasher and here I am complaining about dishes on the list and we have a dishwasher but there's the way the dishwasher pulls out and the way the kitchen is in the corner. You have to be there the entire time like standing with your back bent at a weird angle.
Speaker 1:I'm not built for that type of gymnastics, so I like do the dishes for like so routine for you. Oh, I do the dishes for like 10 minutes. And when I say do the dishes, I mean load the dishwasher and I need to go to the chiropractor. So, it's a but. Folding laundry is very close. I can wash clothes all day.
Speaker 3:That's so funny. That's Nate's the washer. I hate getting the laundry bin from upstairs to downstairs. I feel like I just have to drag it and it's so. So our like routine is he gets the laundry started, moves it over to the dryer, because I always forget also to shift to the dryer. And I will fold and put away any day. I hate starting laundry and remembering to switch it over.
Speaker 2:I just have. It's the worst? Yeah, it is. And you know, we have so many clothes and Jackson has so many clothes.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, where do children's clothes come from? How do children have so many clothes? Matt, you have two and I have one, and I'm like how?
Speaker 1:Yeah, we started a while back Like we. Well, first of all, if you're going to have kids anytime soon, just know that never buy clothes. Yeah, because every relative every friend like the most fun thing to buy for someone else is like the adorable outfit you see at Target or Coles or whatever it is. So if you're a parent, don't buy clothes because, a they grow out of it so fast, but B everyone else will buy you clothes. We started going on Facebook Marketplace.
Speaker 1:And like people would be selling like here's like a giant bag of clothes for three year old boys, yeah, and like all of a sudden, like Caleb went from he had like four shirts to like 45. But that's been a good way to go for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, something in our house that's tough is, our dryer is not fully drying.
Speaker 1:So it's like why are our lives so similar? Like if my wife was on right now, she would go off about our dryer.
Speaker 2:It's like three or four cycles to get the full load dry and so, like if you pull the clothes out when they're slightly damp, they get all musty smelling. So it's like you have to ooh sorry, you have to like remember to put it on another cycle or it's just going to sit in their damp a little bit.
Speaker 1:It's awful, it's so annoying. Yeah, let me clarify these are definitely first world problems that we're talking about 100. Merry Christmas everyone. Yeah, merry.
Speaker 3:Christmas.
Speaker 2:Peace on Earth, good Will to Men, a constant and women.
Speaker 3:A constant thank you, nate. A constant battle in our house is when it comes to dishes. Nate is a soaker, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Everything needs to soak. No, set it pre-soaked no.
Speaker 3:It's like chicken pot pie. The other night Now all that was in the pan was chicken, the pot pot, like the soup mix the cream and chicken soup, so nothing was crusted on.
Speaker 1:Let me just say that Nothing was crusted on Four days later.
Speaker 3:I come over that night like Nate had cleaned up and then I am like why is this pot? He's like oh, it just needs to soak. I'm like it doesn't.
Speaker 1:It doesn't? You gotta loosen it up. There's nothing on there, nate, soaking is a thing you did in college. When you live with like seven other guys in like a quad or a frat house, that's what soaking is for, oh my gosh, I don't know.
Speaker 2:You can't rush, a nice clean experience.
Speaker 3:You can with a dishwasher or your hands, Just like we have a scrub brush. So that's always a battle. I'm like, hey, why is this pan here? And before he can say it, I'm like is it soaking? Because it doesn't need to soak.
Speaker 1:The whole reason I brought this up is because it's like my marital job, like in our you know arrangements, that I do the dishes every night, and last night I went to bed without doing the dishes and I could just like I could feel the wrath in my wife's eyes this morning. I felt it, I felt it, but anyways, moving this podcast forward and out of the dishes in the laundry.
Speaker 1:We wanted to have a little bit of recap recently. Just recently, we had the Patriots party at Gillette Stadium, the 30th annual party and right off the bat, we just want to shout out Kristin Castillo for her leadership in this event. But I'll let you guys take over the recap from here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was awesome. It was the 30th annual. We even in the COVID year we did a virtual Patriot party, so we did like we went to a couple of different core and had the Patriot organization had, you know, recorded stuff and so it literally is not like asterisk, you know, covid year, it's the 30th annual, so it was an awesome event. It brought in almost 250 kids from Massachusetts, ranging from Salvation Army core locations to like children's homes and afterschool programs and like it's just the range is so wide and all over the state. So almost 250 kids and it was awesome and it's just one of those experiences that kids will always remember. They'll always remember going to Gillette, being loved on playing games meeting some players meeting players and cheerleaders.
Speaker 1:I think the big ticket player this year was Zekeel Elliott.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:If you follow football, he was really a mega star with the Dallas Cowboys. He's with New England this year. Star Power is a little bit less, but he's still well. Maybe that's Star Power. His playing ability is not maybe what it used to be five, six years ago, but his Star Power is still very. The kids knew that oh, zeke is here.
Speaker 3:Zeke is here. Well, even when they were announcing who was going to be there, like they're going through the whole list and there's like cheering and then the last one they said and come in just a few minutes, is Zeke Elliott.
Speaker 2:And the kids were like freaking out, you know it's just, it's like a big ticket name.
Speaker 3:They know Zeke.
Speaker 2:Well, do you remember when Zeke jumped in the kettle like?
Speaker 3:six years ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there was the Zeke Kettle Challenge where you make a $21 donation and honor him Of his number at the time. And yeah, that was huge.
Speaker 1:I remember like the day after that people there were articles that came out that said because Zeke jumped in that kettle it was the equivalent of paying for like $15 million in advertising on TV Because of the number of people watching on Thanksgiving. That's wild Him jumping in that kettle and like for like 45 seconds, people seeing the kettle talking about the Salvation Army it was like something the equivalent of $15 million of advertising that's crazy.
Speaker 3:I was taking pictures One of our former core members from Columbus. Her name is Tiana. She's the biggest Cowboys fan. Her and Nate would always go head to head. But I was sending her pictures and she's like I can't believe you're so close, like she was freaking out. But it's just so cool to see even the players just interacting with the kids.
Speaker 3:They're getting wrapped in you know streamers and they're getting like Christmas decorations hung from their ears and they're just such good sports about it. And you know the kids feel like they're the center of attention, which is just totally flipped to. You know the world it's the kids that are being doted on and the players just do such a great job at focusing on them. And you know being flexible to all those kids hanging all over you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they got to take home some pretty cool Patriot swag with them too.
Speaker 1:Every year that I've gone to the Patriot party by the end I say like, oh, I wish I was getting. Like what the kids? Are getting on the way out there there's like this blanket, this like flush, yeah, oh, flush blanket.
Speaker 3:It was soft. I would turn that thing inside out and use it.
Speaker 1:Oh, by the way, if you're on social media, there was a great photograph that was going around of a young family. It was going viral.
Speaker 2:It was going viral.
Speaker 1:No, you guys took a picture with your son in front of Gillette Stadium. It really looks in the photograph like your avid Patriots fans.
Speaker 3:But if you're on social, media.
Speaker 1:Check that out. It's really a great, great photograph.
Speaker 3:Matt just got uninvited from next year's Patriot party.
Speaker 1:That's the first thing Loretta texted me. She was just like, note to self, uninvite Matt to next year's Patriots party. It was.
Speaker 3:I knew, I knew when we took that that was going to bite me in the butt. But don't worry, I've already plotted my revenge.
Speaker 2:Oh okay, I already said to.
Speaker 3:Nate. I said to Nate I didn't tell him what it was. Oh, I did tell you what it was. Yeah, I said oh. The moment I saw that picture, I knew exactly what my revenge was going to be.
Speaker 1:So don't worry, it's common.
Speaker 3:There are a lot of bad pictures of me out there. I'm calling bad picture, don't worry.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, fair enough, yeah, so the Patriots party is a great time. It's great we are really plowing through the month of December. It's really crazy. It's kind of terrifying Christmas is just a couple of days away. Yeah, you guys got your shopping pretty much under wraps.
Speaker 3:No, yeah, exactly Not at all. We're feeling that, I think that's where we're all at. I went to Target the other day and just got a couple of things for Jackson, because they do that like spend this much, get this much off, and I'm like, oh well, I'll take advantage of that man. I it's crazy. It's like I mean a list of what's still, who we need to get for still, and I'm like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the list grows every year, right? Yes, yeah, it's grows every year.
Speaker 2:Well, we are getting to the phase of our lives, too, where it's like we don't know what to get each other.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Because, it's like you know, we don't we don't really need anything? No, and so we were in bed last night and this commercial for Hello Fresh came on and Larita was like let's just get each other a Hello Fresh subscription. I'm like what? Are we 75 years old now, listen.
Speaker 3:I like Hello Fresh.
Speaker 1:It's not as bad as the gift that I put down on a list the other day where I wasn't sure what to put and I I don't know if I've ever felt more pathetic, but I put down this like contraption that like would make poached eggs for myself and I was just like oh, if I could just make eggs benedict at home, maybe. If I don't, I don't want any stuff, but maybe I would want this thing. So but I put it down and I was just like man, there's nothing that feels more.
Speaker 3:I reached that point, so, whatever it's like those things you won't buy for yourself hey, I might use this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:I might make some poached eggs here and there and really enjoy some Hollandaise sauce, and you know really how often would you actually use that, though, like would you use it a lot or would it stick in a cabinet?
Speaker 1:Well, my like go to right now is I have eggs just about every morning for breakfast and I use my cast iron skillet and I cook them over easy. Throw on some. I like to do a little bit of avocado, a little bit of hot sauce and then some bagel seasoning, so it's like bagel seasoning. I think it's delicious, but if I go to a cafe, why are?
Speaker 3:you laughing?
Speaker 1:It is delicious, it is good. I wouldn't eat something that's not good.
Speaker 3:It was just funny the way you said it Every single day. Keep going, keep going.
Speaker 1:Anyways, I it depends. I would have to see how much work it is. Yeah, true, because right now I can whip up what I just said in like maybe five minutes while I'm making my coffee.
Speaker 3:Got a routine, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and the kids got to eat too. So if it took the same amount of time, I think I would, you know, do it pretty often.
Speaker 2:But a good Benedict is not easy. Yeah, the holidays breaks, the holidays break. Well, according to MasterChef, where we watch MasterChef, they don't always do a great job making the poached eggs in the holiday sauce, but you know, when you have Gordon Ramsay screaming at you, I guess it's a little different.
Speaker 1:Well, a little bit later in our podcast, Nate has a devotional thought for us. Nate, can you give us a little preview of what that's going to be about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, just you know this is a season that is, you know, a lot of people say, the most wonderful time of the year. But we recognize that for so many people that's not the case, and so, trying to find the joy amidst the drudgery of maybe the season for some people.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, all right, we are going to take a short break here on the Plugged In podcast, but Loretta has a couple games for us.
Speaker 3:Do you want to tell us about one of them or two of them? Well, the first game is going to be a Christmas, mad Gabb I don't think have you ever played? Mad Gabb Matt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have.
Speaker 3:Mad Gabb Matt. Yes, that's, me.
Speaker 1:Mad Gabb Matt.
Speaker 3:I love playing games with the both of you because both of you are like.
Speaker 1:We're dorks. Yeah, we are not good at games and I love it. Well, I think every time we've played. Nate has like beat me pretty soundly.
Speaker 3:He's so competitive, it's a downfall on my marriage. Oh, I'm competitive, I'm just not good Like oh, don't mistake this.
Speaker 1:No, no, no. I like to win, I'm just not a winner. I think you'd call me a loser.
Speaker 3:Well, that's what you can look forward to at the Loretta's like you have to move this Stop.
Speaker 1:All right, we're going to take a break on the Plugged In podcast. We'll be right back with our first game. All right, welcome back to the Plugged In podcast. I'm, matt, here with Nate and Loretta, loretta throwing it to you.
Speaker 3:Yes, here we go, you guys.
Speaker 1:Ready.
Speaker 3:So we're going to play some Christmas. Mad Gabb, I will put a disclaimer out there. I did not make these, but I found these. So if there is any discrepancy from you two, don't come at me, okay.
Speaker 2:The way you both, so are you reading them to us so?
Speaker 3:I'm going to hold up a card.
Speaker 2:Oh, we have to read it out loud.
Speaker 3:And you have to read it out loud Do you want to work as a team or do you want to work solo? Do you want to we are lone wolves.
Speaker 1:I was going to say team, but Okay, lone wolves Okay. The one man wolf pack Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my wolf pack has grown by one.
Speaker 3:All right, I'm ready. So, matt, we're going to go to you. First I'm going to hold up a card and then you have to sound it out, and they're all Christmas related. Some are easier, some are not. All right, okay, and I have a one minute timer, so we'll see how many, see how many you can get in a minute, okay, and then we'll do the same for Nate.
Speaker 2:I'm nervous now.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, this are bold one man wolf pack over there.
Speaker 1:He's going to win.
Speaker 3:I'm not Okay here we go, ready, all right ready. And you're the first one.
Speaker 1:Okay To us, then I'd beef for Christmas. To us, then I'd beef for Christmas. For Christmas To us, then I'd beef To us. To us, then I'd beef.
Speaker 3:You're doing great.
Speaker 1:For Christmas, obviously, is the to us, then I'd beef To us, to us Pass. Okay, oh, my goodness, I'm the worst. Deck or eight shuns Decorations. Yes, here we go. Gene gulp, elves, jingle bells Nice, that's a good one. Jaw lead holes, Eight, neck you Jaw, yeltsinic lens, milk and cookies.
Speaker 3:Milk and cookies.
Speaker 1:Yes, okay 15 seconds. Then ortho pull, then ortho pull, then ortho pull, then the north pole, the north pole, six seconds. Had Venokale lender, had Venokale lender, had Venokale lender.
Speaker 3:Oh Right, in the neck of time, I wasn't counting I was. Oh, this is making a sound over here.
Speaker 1:Thank you Telling me they had to be like I was thinking six, is that five or six?
Speaker 3:Okay, so this one.
Speaker 1:The first one To us Something before Christmas. To us, then I'd beef To us, then I'd beef.
Speaker 3:Sounds like you're ordering food To us. What was the night?
Speaker 1:before.
Speaker 2:Christmas. Oh To us then.
Speaker 1:I'd beef. You really got caught up in the I'd beef. No, that was so good.
Speaker 3:It was such a hard like beef. Yeah, yeah, it was like connected Six, you got six, okay, nice.
Speaker 2:It was kind of cool just like watching the process, because there's so much more.
Speaker 3:No, he's like analyzing.
Speaker 2:There's so much more pressure when you're the one like oh, 100% yeah. So like I can hear you saying it and I'm like working it out, but I think, like it's just, it's hard when you're seeing it and you're pressured to do it, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh 100%.
Speaker 1:Hi, bro, all right, you ready Get seven.
Speaker 3:If not.
Speaker 1:Stretch it out. I don't know, unique.
Speaker 2:New York Unique. How now brown cow, how now brown cow. Red yellow letter, red bear baby bubby bum.
Speaker 3:Is this the new game? I guess, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I just went off the rails.
Speaker 3:Sorry, classic. All right, here we go Ready.
Speaker 2:I'm ready. Did you hit the timer?
Speaker 3:I'm oh my word I'm lining up. Geez, here we go, ready Set go.
Speaker 2:Okay, oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree. Hand pee, holly dates. Happy holidays. Yes, hunter the crisp mystery, hunter the crisp mystery Under the Christmas tree. That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Hunter the.
Speaker 2:Frog's teeth thus note demand Frog's teeth thus note demand Frosty the snowman.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I thought you were like seeing it that was amazing Rib-hunt sandbios, ribbons and bows. Is this? I don't know why you're singing, but keep going, I know. Is this like a technique for you?
Speaker 2:Slayer, slay ride. Slay ride, slayer ride.
Speaker 3:Slayer ride. Slayer ride 12 seconds.
Speaker 2:Merry Christmas, you all. Merry Christmas, you all. Merry Christmas, you all. Silent night.
Speaker 3:Nice, all right, that's it.
Speaker 2:Eight Nice job.
Speaker 3:Eight. All right, you want to do it to me?
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3:Oh.
Speaker 2:I keep hitting the this little sound, this little.
Speaker 3:Okay, reset, reset.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's the timer going on. Yeah, it's like Do do, do you do think it was our phone? Sorry.
Speaker 2:You have the answers on this.
Speaker 3:That's why that's first of all, did I not say don't critique me, I didn't make these.
Speaker 1:She did say don't critique her.
Speaker 2:That's why I'm holding the bottom.
Speaker 3:That's why I'm holding the bottom of it. Oh, thank you All right, I'm classically terrible at this game, so here we go everyone.
Speaker 1:I'm excited for this. Okay, eight is the number to beat.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, and it's Nate. So I feel like I have to Ready set start Two elf dates, soft Christmas, 12 days of Christmas. It's so aggressive? Santa's word chop. Santa's word chop. Aker wrist mask. Harold A Christmas Carol, a Christmas Carol. Aker wrist mask. Harold Aker wrist mask. Harold A Christmas Carol, christmas Carol, skip it, I think you're cheating me. Oh gosh, chex Knox. Chex, knox Roads. Chex, knox Roads, chex, knox Roads got an open fire.
Speaker 2:Yes, I just got the first bit, gene glow wall.
Speaker 3:Though wait, jingle all the way. Yes, oh, that's our movie. That is the movie.
Speaker 2:It's a turbo.
Speaker 3:Sandhawk laws. Santa Claus, yeah, you're flying now. Let us know, let us know, let us know, let us know, let us know, let us know, let us know. Six oh timer.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 3:Was that six? Dang it, you got six. How did he go faster? I think I.
Speaker 1:We're tied. Nate won.
Speaker 3:Of course, of course, nate won.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, I don't know why I didn't say this in our last episode when we did the movie draft. But when you drafted Jingle all the way, my favorite line, put that cookie down.
Speaker 3:Oh, there's these cookies on the bed.
Speaker 1:Put that cookie down. That's my cookie.
Speaker 3:That is such a good movie, so it was a Christmas Herald, not a Christmas Herald.
Speaker 2:What A?
Speaker 1:Christmas Herald.
Speaker 3:I think that's a rip off, I think that's a. I mean it was close.
Speaker 2:Whatever?
Speaker 1:All right, so eight for Nate, nate for eight. Nate for eight, and then me and Loretta both had six. Don't be so disappointed, it's okay.
Speaker 2:This means nothing, I am proud that.
Speaker 1:I got more than two.
Speaker 3:I am proud of you too. That was kind of where I was at, yeah, mad gab map.
Speaker 1:Yes, now you can actually call me Mad gab map, because I didn't get two.
Speaker 3:I think there needs to be a new sign on your door, mad gab map.
Speaker 1:So we've done this last couple episodes with Thanksgiving and with Christmas. Part one. We did a movie draft last time so we had discussed, and this one was a lot more loosey goosey on the rules, I feel like we were.
Speaker 3:We've gone very laxity.
Speaker 1:We'll say less than prepared.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Maybe use the word, but we are going to do a draft of Christmas. Well, just call it Christmas music. Yes, because I'm thinking of my choices as not even like one song, but like I'm going to throw it into your album Wow. This is what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:There are no rules. I don't even have a pen.
Speaker 1:This is not like not prepared. I know Last time I brought pens. You still have the sounder.
Speaker 3:I have it up we only test to make sure it's the right one.
Speaker 1:Test it. Oh you know what Long pause, not good for podcasts. There it is. Okay, that's the one.
Speaker 3:All right, so I'm at least prepared with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I believe Matt gets first pick right Because you had first pick for the food.
Speaker 3:You had first pick for yep, so Matt's up first. Boom, Okay, so I'm in the middle.
Speaker 1:I'm only mildly prepared, like really not at all, but with the first overall pick I'm ready. Oh, all right, so my choice is today I'm going rogue, totally off the map. I don't think you guys would pick these Lovely Ever. So with my first overall pick, I'm going with a hometown favorite made famous by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, already gone. I'm going with LaRoy Anderson's A Christmas Festival. That was my pick, stop. So if you ever go to holiday pops or even this piece is played around the world now at any Christmas orchestral concert, really just any Christmas concert you go to Mass Brass has played it the last several years, but a Christmas festival is usually the beginning piece or the closing piece of big Christmas concerts, but it includes all the carols. It's one of those big montages of pieces where I love those kinds. Yeah, you get like eight minutes but you hit them all.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:You get fast, slow, key changes, big opening, big ending and by the end you feel like Christmas is very jolly, yeah, very jolly.
Speaker 3:That's the one.
Speaker 1:So I'm going with Arthur Fiedler. Boston Pops A Christmas Festival.
Speaker 3:Did we play this like the one year I was in the band? I don't remember playing this one.
Speaker 1:It starts like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom boom boom, boom.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I remember that. I feel like that's really really, really familiar. Not at all. Okay, I did not get the, not the rule.
Speaker 2:There are no rules I think that's the clear.
Speaker 1:There are no rules in this draft. Yeah, this is a rogue, rogue draft.
Speaker 3:But I picked songs specifically.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, that sounds great.
Speaker 3:But there, I'm not going to win this draft board. I just know it because people can be like, well, this is, this is wild, loretta. Okay, but starting off strong, oh hold on.
Speaker 2:I feel like I know what you're going to pick.
Speaker 3:You don't know what I'm going to pick. Here we go.
Speaker 1:Wow, there it is. Second pick, first round.
Speaker 3:First pick is have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Bing Crosby.
Speaker 1:Oh, classic.
Speaker 3:Classic.
Speaker 3:I have vivid memories Every Christmas Eve, our family, my parents, my siblings, my aunt and uncle, grandma and granddad from my mom's side we'd all go out for Christmas Eve dinner and on the way back to our house because my grandparents would spend the night every Christmas Eve and on the way back my granddad would put the radio on and it was like that Nordic tracker where you could track Santa Claus, and this was always played. And so I have like I have vivid memories of sitting in his Jeep, driving back home from dinner and like this playing, and so every time I hear it it's just like it's one of those you know, memory that's nostalgic, that's the word I'm looking for.
Speaker 1:Nostalgic, that's the one that's my first pick Good Nice.
Speaker 2:I'm going to pick my favorite Sounder bro.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:I'm not a practicing.
Speaker 1:There, it is Okay With the third overall pick.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm going to go with my favorite arrangement of this song. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and I do love the Michael Buble Buble. Sorry, michael Buble version Buble, but I'm going with the Johnny Mathis version Wow, because it has the full orchestral soundtrack behind it Some really powerful French horns in there. I like that version. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Speaker 1:Well scored is what it sounds like.
Speaker 2:Yes, well scored.
Speaker 3:You said Mathis, johnny Mathis 1986.
Speaker 2:Oh, nate's Okay, he's got more prepared than us.
Speaker 3:And now wait. The only rule, the only rule was if we picked a song, the song is out right.
Speaker 1:Was that a rule or was I mean, if that's the case, my whole albums could be out.
Speaker 3:No, this is true, no, okay.
Speaker 2:I say if you got a different version of different artists, then yeah, we're going, no rules.
Speaker 3:No rules, oh at all Okay, we're good.
Speaker 1:then the only thing, the only rule we're going to say is like so I could not pick Johnny Mathis 1986.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, so there's one rule. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1:The one really just don't pick what someone else picked. That seems pretty obvious, but so we'll roll with that, all right. So, nate, it snakes back to you. You have pick number four, starting in round two. What you got, you both.
Speaker 2:I'm going to go with a classic that every time it's on you, hum along with it or sing along with it. Feliz Navidad by Jose. Feliciano, I don't know the year.
Speaker 1:Oh, bummer, wow, Doesn't count, you're out. Well, my pick it sounds Christmas. We had special guest Victor Morales, contemporary worship leader for the Eastern Territory, but also extraordinary musician. Yeah, the dude's brilliant on a different level If you have a conversation with him. He's brilliant on a different level, but he sang Feliz Navidad. Got the whole crowd going.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, it was fun. Yeah, it's a crowd pleaser Good song Good pick Nate. So good, all right, my pick. Thank you. You know what no rules, mine was. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Buble version.
Speaker 2:That's a good version. That's good. That's fair.
Speaker 3:I have no narrative for it, that's just what it is.
Speaker 2:Stylistically it's so much different.
Speaker 3:So it's basically so much different yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so recapping the first two rounds, so on. Oh no, I have to wrap up. You have to round out round two. Okay, I am going with. This is another album. Okay, so the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra brass section has an album out called. Well, they have several albums out called the Spirit of Christmas, but I'm going to call this one distinctly. If you look this up, it's the purple album color. Okay, they have several Spirit of Christmas. There's a cut, there's a green, there's a red, there's a purple. The purple one is what I'm talking about. Okay, and so their brass section recording this album is phenomenal. If you're into bass trombone playing, there's a gentleman named Murray Crew. He's no longer with us anymore, but his sound is as big as a house. But it also could, like laser, beam you in half, like it is just some awesome, awesome playing.
Speaker 2:So, scared.
Speaker 1:And it's mostly like it's mostly like carols and they have a handful of arrangements that are the brass section with organ as well which is a really, really great combination.
Speaker 1:All right, so rounding out the first two rounds. So I have a Christmas festival from the Boston Pops, two orchestral selections Pittsburgh Symphony brass, the Spirit of Christmas, nate has it's beginning to look like Christmas, johnny Mathis and Felice Navidad and Loretta has. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. And then Michael Blaise version of it's Beginning to Look Like Christmas. Yeah, I feel like I just said Christmas like 12 times in the last three sentences it's cool.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we'll start round three. Gonna hit that sounder for me. Okay, I'm going with another gigantic orchestral selection, but this time with full choir, Full choir yeah we're going with George Frederick Handel's Messiah and most people know this at Christmas time for the Hallelujah Chorus yeah, hallelujah, hallelujah. We did that in, in, um, and he shall reign.
Speaker 3:In chorus and high school. That was always our closing for the winter concert. It was always our closing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, another thing, just one of the like. One of the absolute privileges of my entire life was to play a lot of Christmas shows with the Boston Pops, and every year that is just a part of the repertoire. It's usually like the Boston Pops will play some big flashy opening piece to start the show and then, without any introduction, without any talking segue, they go right into the Hallelujah Chorus, and sometimes it used to. I mean, it's pretty standard. Maybe across the pond when that starts playing, people stand up, like the whole audience stands up, so there were.
Speaker 1:There were sometimes where that happened in Symphony Hall, but it's kind of like a it's a boozy, schmoozy crowd, so like, not everyone's like.
Speaker 3:Oh, the Hallelujah Chorus, stand up you know.
Speaker 1:No, no, they're like wine and cheese and hot chocolate.
Speaker 2:It might fall over if they stand up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oof, so that is my selection. Sorry that was a long explanation, but I'm going with Handel's Messiah and specifically the Hallelujah Chorus.
Speaker 2:Nice. How do you follow that up?
Speaker 3:Oh well, I'm about to, but before I do I have to say, if you listened to the last episode, the movies draft, I had a bone to pick with Matt, because every movie that he picked seemed like it was. Each title had like eight or nine words in it and so graphically trying to fit like Elf next to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was so frustrating, and so every time you're picking now and I'm like Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, brass section purple purple album spirit of Christmas. I am just like going to give up at this point.
Speaker 1:Okay, I just take a little screenshot of the album cover and just put that up there you go. Yeah, no one won't. No one's going to vote for me. This is the list that will never win.
Speaker 3:I don't care, this is purely for me All right Round three, pick number two Loretta.
Speaker 1:What do you?
Speaker 3:got Okay. I remember I'm going this Christmas by John Legend.
Speaker 1:I like that.
Speaker 3:Oh, quiet, quiet in the room, quiet in the room.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, I like that's good pick.
Speaker 3:I love John Legend. Yeah, it's got a good voice all about like he's just got such a good smooth voice.
Speaker 1:So John legends on my short list of artists in. I feel like if you come from the classically trained music world, yeah, sometimes you can look at the entertainment industry with a little bit of jealousy and say, like that person doesn't even write their own music, yeah. Or like someone produces it, someone edits it they may perform their concerts like not even they might be lip-syncing the entire thing, so they're like truly an entertainer that makes a gazillion dollars. But like you're always kind of questioning like ooh, are they like? Are they really musically talented?
Speaker 1:Or just John Legend is on my short list of people. I think Bruno Mars is their, Lady Gaga is their.
Speaker 2:John.
Speaker 1:Legend. There's some people that are seriously talented, yeah, and they deserve like every dollar that they've made because they're on that. They're on that plane.
Speaker 3:It's a full. It's like their creativity is in every facet of the planning, the writing, the executing, the recording, the you know performing it's all them.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Good pick, thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you, I feel validated. Okay, Nate ready.
Speaker 2:You know she was really jealous that you loved my jingle all the way, pick.
Speaker 1:And then was like yeah, you got a good draft too. I'm just so about that.
Speaker 3:I love that, I just won't stop. I was just cracking up on the way home, anyway, okay, here we go, ready Nate.
Speaker 2:Yes, all right. Classic trans-Siberian orchestra Nice Christmas cannon. Oh, okay, rockabelle's cannon in D Okay, I like that, it's a good one.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna have to spell check all of these things I'm writing.
Speaker 1:I like that you went. Trans-siberian orchestra yeah, I feel like that's a staple, I think it's a staple for everyone's Christmas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's different than some of the other mainstream different songs you know I like that Good pick, nate.
Speaker 1:Also, loretta had great pick before you. Her pick of John Legends this Christmas was incredible.
Speaker 3:Loretta is a needy and petty, also a solid pick with trans-Siberian orchestra.
Speaker 2:So affirmations all around. I got them today.
Speaker 1:I got them.
Speaker 3:It's only because I lost so badly in the first draft and this is only like my third overall draft.
Speaker 2:So I'm learning Is there a potato song that we can throw into this.
Speaker 1:Wow, I would have.
Speaker 2:I'm never bringing up potatoes again after the last episode.
Speaker 1:I cannot believe you just said that All right, we've got to move on. Holy cow, who's pick is it?
Speaker 3:Nate's again.
Speaker 2:Okay, nate, it's mine again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, indulge yourself, buddy, okay.
Speaker 2:I'm going to go with. Santa Claus is coming to town. Jackson Five.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't not have picked that they have a.
Speaker 2:They have a fun arrangement they got. They bring that Motown sound and a little different.
Speaker 1:It's more memorable than some of the other arrangements. I with the Jackson Five at Christmas time is specifically that song. I feel like I can, I feel like it's on the radio all the time, yeah, and I can't like I can't do it the whole season, yeah, especially when they start rolling it out like around Halloween.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's too soon, it's just a lot.
Speaker 2:That's a whole other philosophical thing, like if people are, if people are playing music around Halloween, christmas music, and no, it needs to be shut off, but you're just going to start war within your family. I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:Heinzman start in like August year round, august one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no they're year round Wow. All right so we're back to Larita.
Speaker 1:Okay, I fully expect this to be an incredible pick, but go ahead. I'm excited to hear it.
Speaker 3:Now I, now I'm going to kick both of you under the table. Okay, I'm oh, did I? I don't think I'm going modern to my girl, taylor Swift.
Speaker 2:Yeah, christmas tree farm.
Speaker 1:I love the way it starts.
Speaker 3:And again, I I've watched a couple of documentaries on her recently. It's just really because of this whole like she's blown up and like there's just stuff about her everywhere. I was watching another documentary last night and she's one of those individuals who genuinely take such she takes her, her works like so seriously. All her lyrics, everything tells a story and I'm about the story, like the storytelling element, and so I really do. I appreciate the, the way she writes and just like the, like the yeah, vibe of her music.
Speaker 2:She grew up on a Christmas tree farm or she had a family member who owned one or something.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's some kind of family connection. She grew up in Pennsylvania, moved to Nashville. I learned that last night. But anyway, t-sweep to Christmas tree farm. Good pick, thank you.
Speaker 1:All right, I will finish out round of four.
Speaker 3:OK, here we go.
Speaker 1:There it is. I did not expect to make this pick, but I'm taking it simply because it's still on the board. I'm going with. All I Want for Christmas is you buy Mariah Carey?
Speaker 3:So you can't I know Either love it or you hate it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, but at this point it's part of the canon.
Speaker 3:It's culture. I mean, it is cultural.
Speaker 1:And how many times in your entire life can you appreciate a good Barry Sacks?
Speaker 3:solo it's just that song.
Speaker 1:Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack. You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3:I know exactly what you're talking about. Like there's like no other time in life where you're just like I'm just more impressed. You committed so fully to that. Oh yeah, I did.
Speaker 1:But I did not expect to pick that. That wasn't in my plans at all, but I'm going with that. I'm of the Now I might win the board yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think that that is a.
Speaker 3:That might be your one. It's a polarizing pick.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Because I think that you have the people that love it and you have the people that say this is the preeminent overplayed song of the season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I would agree.
Speaker 3:But I think you have to think Christmas is just like you jam-pack all of this music in in this short amount of time, so isn't everything overplayed? You know what I mean? Like it's every radio station you listen to is just all the same majority of the same stuff.
Speaker 1:All right, so I'm going to recap. Well, no, let's just finish out the round and then we'll recap all of our lists.
Speaker 3:So do you pick again?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I'm going to. Now I'm going to finish. This will be the top of round five. Now I'm a little bit confused. Thank you, sorry. Sorry, I was wrong early. So I had. I had something on my list, but now I feel I have to leave it off because I just made that surprise pick. I'll tell you what I'm going to leave off first.
Speaker 3:OK, is that OK so?
Speaker 1:undo that sound or bring it back. We haven't gone brass band yet. So I was going to go with the Black Dike Christmas album, and this is a blue album cover. There's no name to it, it's just the Christmas album. I think it's called Christmas with Black Dike. If you don't know what Black Dike is, it is a brass band in the UK, a very, very famous brass band. It's not whatever else you're thinking. So this is a fantastic Christmas album.
Speaker 3:It is good.
Speaker 1:But I'm not picking that. Ok. So I'm going to take a different album, and this is the album of my childhood and if my mom is listening which we know she is I'm going with Lee Greenwood's Christmas album. Nice, and that's a childhood memory where every single Christmas we had the Lee Greenwood cassette tape coming home for Christmas and it's like real kind of like country twang. It's not something that I would have expected in my household, but we had that cassette tape and that was like every Christmas, it was the Lee Greenwood.
Speaker 3:Christmas album.
Speaker 1:So that's going to round out my selections.
Speaker 2:I don't think I've heard a Lee Greenwood song that wasn't proud to be an American, to be honest.
Speaker 1:Really, yeah, ok, look up the Christmas album I need to listen to some of his other things. I feel like it's off to look it up right now, but it's like I want to say. It's like Kentucky Christmas or something.
Speaker 3:I was trying to find an album.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to embarrass myself.
Speaker 3:I was trying to find an album. I remember I think it was like a Disney.
Speaker 1:Oh no, it's Tennessee Christmas. Woo People of Kentucky and Tennessee are upset with me right now.
Speaker 3:And they've just signed off Tennessee.
Speaker 2:Christmas. All of our listeners from Tennessee and Kentucky, yeah.
Speaker 3:There was. I remember growing up there was, I think it was the name of it. I can't remember what it looked like, but I remember listening to it on repeat. I think it was like a Disney Christmas album and it had like Alvin and the Chipmunks and it had all of those. That was on repeat in my house.
Speaker 1:Ok, All right, what's your final selection, Maria my?
Speaker 3:final selection. Listen, I had it in here. This was difficult. I was tossing between Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays from NSYNC.
Speaker 1:Merry Christmas.
Speaker 3:Like again because it's just, I was in the wrong time, but I got to go close it out with Merry Christmas by Ed Sheeran and Elton John. I am a huge Ed Sheeran fan. Again, talk about talents of musician. We saw him in concert and it's just called Merry Christmas. It's just called Merry Christmas. We saw him in concert a couple of years ago now and it's literally just. There's no entertainment factor. It's him on a stage with a looper.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 3:And he just loops everything and it's just, and it builds and then he gets into the song and it's just like this is so good, yeah, talk about talent, I think when you see those people live and the show kind of breaks down to its simplest form.
Speaker 1:I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers one time and they went into like a 45 minute like improv session. And it was just like they weren't even doing their songs, but they were just jamming and it was like holy crap.
Speaker 3:Those are the videos I will watch on YouTube, the full 45 minutes. Like, just I love that. So that's that closes it out for me, Nice.
Speaker 1:Cool, great list. Wow, they read a strong list I'm looking at your five. I'm looking at your five selections. I have goosebumps, it's good.
Speaker 3:We've gone from one extreme to the other All right Nate, Just end this End this madness, please Wait wait, wait. I'm going to do my jingle.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I just deleted the words All right, got to bring some 80s into the context we're going to do Last Christmas by Wham. No, yeah, there's nobody who does not know this song All right. The very next day you gave it away it's good, and Glee has a good arrangement of this too.
Speaker 1:Oh, tell me the artist again. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Wham. Oh, I put With an exclamation point at the end I put Yam Nice. Youth Arts Ministries. Yeah.
Speaker 1:All right, ok, yeah, nate, that's a good pick. I like that, thank you. Thank you, I don't know if you listen to it. I think it's 106.7. Is the Christmas station here in the Boston area? They play the same. It's got to be like Max 25 songs, yes, and it's just over and over and over. But Last Christmas is one of them. So is the Jackson 5. Santa Claus coming down? I'm kind of rethinking that pick. All right, so here's our lists. So I had the privilege of going first this draft, so here's my list. I went with Christmas Festival, made famous by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. George Frederick handles the Messiah, specifically the Hallelujah Chorus. One with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Brass Section, their purple album called the Spirit of Christmas. I went with Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas. Is it you?
Speaker 3:It's such a switch, it's such a switch.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really out there, the pendulum.
Speaker 1:And then I am taking Lee Greenwood's Christmas album, specifically Tennessee Christmas.
Speaker 3:That's my list.
Speaker 1:Larita, you want to read down yours?
Speaker 3:Sure, I have have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Bing Crosby. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The Vublai version Solid this Christmas by John Legend.
Speaker 1:Very good.
Speaker 3:Christmas Tree Farm by T-Swift.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:And Merry Christmas from Ed Sheeran, elton John Combo. Stunning list Nice. Thank you so much, Matt. Thank you.
Speaker 2:I have it's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Johnny Mathis 1986 version. I like that. Felice Navidad by Jose. Feliciano.
Speaker 3:What is my third one, santa?
Speaker 2:Claus is coming to town by the Jackson 5.
Speaker 3:I have Christmas Canon for your third pick. I have Trans-Siberian Orchestra for you from number three. Oh, my bad.
Speaker 2:I didn't actually write down the order, I just have lists of.
Speaker 3:Oh well, we can tell you where your list is. Two of us were taking notes, but go ahead.
Speaker 2:Ok. Trans-siberian Orchestra. I have Pachalbelles Canon in D. Santa Claus is coming to town by the Jackson 5. And then Wham's classic hit Last Christmas.
Speaker 3:I'm shocked that Nate didn't take a Sia song Nate's obsessed with.
Speaker 2:I do love Sia.
Speaker 3:Candy cane lame.
Speaker 2:Na na na na na na oh, santa Claus is.
Speaker 3:Santa's coming for us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think of the drafts that we've done. This may be the what's the word I was going to say most interesting, just for the fact that there's so many songs out there. And I feel like every single person, like when we did Thanksgiving draft, like, most people are going to pick turkey, mashed potatoes like whatever it is, but these songs, they could be wildly different from person to person.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I think each one kind of encapsulates us, although the Mariah is a throw. I wasn't expecting to take.
Speaker 1:Mariah, not in a bad way, I'm telling you. I'm serious. I came prepared to take that Black Dye Christmas album and I went with Mariah Carey. That is a huge.
Speaker 2:On the fly switch. That's a huge affirmation and endorsement of her.
Speaker 1:I think I was like I was just trying to. The rest of my songs are not going to get any votes, like nobody is voting for those you needed some audience appeal. Yeah Well, I needed to pad the list with one song where someone might be like oh, that's the one, so I may vote for Matt now.
Speaker 3:You will have Elizabeth's vote.
Speaker 1:Elizabeth is a huge.
Speaker 3:Mariah, all I want for Christmas is you fan Like? Is this for real, yeah, for real. Christmas in July. It is on repeat at camp because it is her favorite song.
Speaker 1:I am stunned by that. I would have taken Elizabeth to kind of like make fun of that song.
Speaker 3:Oh, so would I, so would I.
Speaker 1:But she likes it because she likes it. She doesn't like it, she doesn't make fun of it. No, she genuinely likes it. No, she genuinely likes it.
Speaker 3:When I think of that song now, I think of her because of how many times I've heard it in a genuine sense.
Speaker 1:I know that both Elizabeth and Chris Molinaro have pushed for a music camp theme of Christmas in July to really bust out all the Christmas songs. I've always said this kind of tough because we spent our entire fall preparing for a Christmas concert. So if you really made music camp Christmas, it would just be like really Christmas all year long.
Speaker 3:We might have some kids. What's the word Not vetoing? No, I don't think they would ever veto it.
Speaker 1:But I mean anyways, all right, we're going to take a short break. You're on the Plugged In podcast and when we come back we'll move into our devotional thought brought to us by Captain Nathaniel Heinsman. All right, be right back. All right, and we're back. Welcome to the Plugged In podcast. I am Matt here with Loretta and Captain Nate, captain Loretta as well. Sorry about that. Wow, I really got ahead of myself, but Nate has a word for us. So, nate, it's all yours, buddy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just wanted to look at Luke, chapter two, the Gospel of Luke, beginning in verse eight. A familiar passage, but it says this that night there were angels staying in the fields nearby guarding their flocks of sheep when suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were afraid, but the angel reassured them do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord, has been born. Today in Bethlehem, the city of David, and you'll recognize him by this sign You'll find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger. Then, suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others, the armies of heaven, praising God and saying glory to God in the highest heaven, peace on earth to those whom God is pleased. What a sight. That must have been right Crazy. I love the way that the voice paraphrase describes that. The armies of the angels of heaven gather to sing.
Speaker 1:There's a lot in those verses to unpack. I feel like it's really easy to just read it and be like, oh yeah, that's the Christmas story. But I mean, I always get fixated on a couple words, even the. I like the word suddenly, suddenly, like all of a sudden, there's these shepherds out in the field and then in one instant, like the cosmos have changed like forever, for all eternity.
Speaker 2:Boom suddenly, and that's a great segue into what I'm about to say, right, now, I love it.
Speaker 1:I love it. It's like a plan yeah yeah, and that was we didn't?
Speaker 2:Yeah, reading through that account and thinking through that account, I just thought came to my mind. I wonder what it must have been like that very first Christmas to see, to hear and to witness the greatest news ever that a savior had been born and this earth shattering message. Right, that came did not just come to kings and queens and royals, but it came to a bunch of everyday shepherds scattered on the hillside doing the mundane task of caring for their flocks, right, these everyday, ordinary people.
Speaker 2:Nothing special about them, but God intentionally chose them. He sought them out and he handpicks them to be the recipients of this miraculous news that a savior has been born. Imagine just this site of the entire horizon. I'm sure that they were tired. They were drifting off to sleep when, all of a sudden, like the entire horizon as far as the eyes can see filled with this multitude of angels singing and praising God. It had to be terrifying.
Speaker 1:Oh for sure, oh my goodness, when it says the glory of the Lord, right yeah, is that what it says in scripture?
Speaker 2:Let me go to the exact wording here. It says suddenly the angel was joined by a vast host of others, the armies of heaven, praising God and saying but yes.
Speaker 1:I thought it said the glory of the Lord somewhere, somewhere it did.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I just like think of. I don't know if you get what you guys think of.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, sorry. First night, the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so for me I don't really know what that means, but my brain, I like to think fire.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think bright.
Speaker 1:Yeah, can you just imagine like the sky rips open the armies of the Lord, or so? I'm just thinking like innumerable billions, gazillions like you can't even there's no end to it. But I also just think of like this black night sky has been ripped open and like just fire or something. So blinded. Yeah, exactly yeah of course it had to be so scary. Yeah, like you're literally just in this field. It probably smells like sheep poop or whatever, and then, all of a sudden, like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's crazy. But also think of the contrast, the contrast between, like now, like we have skylines and cities with electricity and we're used to lights and sounds and things at night, but like they're on a quiet hillside, you know, 2000 years ago, with you know fire, or you know Firelit torches that are keeping, sure, keeping their lights, and so they're. You know, your eyes are already adjusted to the dark when all this breaks through. And it's glory and this brilliance.
Speaker 1:It's remarkable how many times, when you read the Christmas story, the Bible says that they were scared, or they were terrified, or they were frightened. I mean, that's like throughout the entire story. Some angel shows up and it like, yeah, I don't know what they look like, but it has to be scary, yeah well, and that's.
Speaker 3:I think there's different accounts in scripture that like give Description to angels and it's not, like you know, the little precious moment angel that my mom has on like her display case right wings and a halo Right it was like they're, like, you know, six feet tall wingspans of. You know Like there's descriptions of angels in scripture and it's not like a like a tinkerbell.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:It's yeah, so armies of angels heavily warriors, yeah, pretty, pretty insane.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I really wanted to focus on that, that one line that says I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people and the specific emphasis on all people, and I alluded to it in the introduction.
Speaker 2:But you know this this is referred to as the most wonderful time of the year, right? I'm sure that we love Christmas. We have our own traditions, we have our own fond memories, but we're we're not naive to the fact that for many people, christmas is far from the most wonderful time of the year. For many people living in our world, christmas is quite depressing and painful and lonely. A Season spent mourning broken families, broken homes, broken promises, empty bank accounts, longing for things that they don't have, or or seeing the great need, or Just recognizing that, or looking at other people and saying, man, I wish I had you know what they have, the stability that they have, the loving family that they have. Tough moments don't stop with the festivities of the season, Because we know that sin has a stranglehold on our world. People are broken, suffering is real, and so the question is what are we to do when joy Seems to be the furthest thing from our everyday reality? Right, there's plenty of bad news in our world. Psychologists have actually identified this. This phenomenon, that is, is pretty recent to society, known as headline stress disorder. Headline stress disorder. It's believed that this form of anxiety affects up to 70 percent of Americans.
Speaker 2:Because we are so saturated by bad news we we hear it on the radio on our drive into work. We get notifications on our phone. We have amber alerts on our phone. We have, right, you know, active shooting alerts on our phone. We have Scrolling through social media and Twitter and everything else. Just turning on the news, a newspaper, the headline, right there is probably the worst news of the day, front and center. It's everywhere. Bad news Sells and bad news is a lucrative business. It's actually estimated that for every one positive news article, there are 17 articles of bad news.
Speaker 1:I would have thought higher like honestly. Like, so it just saturates everything to do with your.
Speaker 2:You know a passage of information, yeah yeah, and because it's so prominent, because it's so widespread, oftentimes our perspective of the world can be shaped and molded into believing that this world is completely devoid of goodness, completely devoid of hope. Where is the joy? Is joy even possible? Bad news can make us feel hopeless, like the problems in our world, in our everyday life, are simply too big to solve. So why even, why even try? Yeah, but here's the good news, and the good news that comes directly from the gospel of Luke, chapter 2, that Christ willingly came into this world. He came into a real place in a real time. He lived, he grew, he walked among us, he performed miracles, he gave us a glimpse of the Father's heart. This is the Christ who died for our sins, who conquered sin and and the grave and death, and he Extends the offer of salvation from sin and he extends living hope to all people, no matter what their situation is, no matter what what ails them, spiritually, physically, emotionally. This is a living hope that belongs to all people.
Speaker 2:The angel says do not be afraid. You touched on that a little bit. Do not be afraid. How hard it truly is, how difficult it is to not be afraid when everything else around us Is fear invoking right, yeah, but the beauty of Christ coming, the incarnation, is that no one is outside the reach of God's love. No one is outside the reach of his grace. All are welcome to him, no matter who you are, what you've done, what your background is. All are welcome to come to Jesus and receive this free gift of salvation. It's the greatest gifts, that that leads to the greatest joy, true joy that is known, that is found in knowing Christ, knowing the assurance of being adopted into his family, knowing that our future is secure and not just our future, but our present is firmly in his hand.
Speaker 2:This doesn't mean that we're not gonna experience disappointment. This doesn't mean that we won't struggle. This doesn't mean that grief will not be a thing or that pain will constantly. We'll just come to a complete end. But it does mean that we can find joy in the mess, because Christ's presence, emmanuel, god, is right there with us in the mess. Think about Mary. Right, mary had her own encounter with an angel. The angel Gabriel, the messenger of God, came to her. And how did she respond when she first learned that she had been, she had found favor with God and that she was chosen for this divine Appointment, this divine task to bear the Christ child. The angel Gabriel appears to her in Luke 1 and the very first thing he says to her is greetings, you are highly favored and the Lord is with you. The Lord is with you.
Speaker 2:What an introduction yeah yeah, you know the reality that there is fear in the unknown but there is peace and knowing that God is with you in the unknown, because in the very verses that follow it says Mary was terrified right.
Speaker 2:Mary was completely terrified. But the angel says to her do not fear, for you have found favor with God. Do not fear, for you have found favor with God. And then it goes on as Mary has this dialogue, as she interacts with with Gabriel, she says in verse 37 of Luke, chapter 1 May it be so. Nothing is impossible with God. I'm his servant, and may everything that you have said about me come true courageous obedience and joy in the face of fear. She may not have understood the why, but she fully recognized the who, that God could be trusted and that this assurance brought peace and stillness to her heart.
Speaker 2:And so that leads me to what I really want us to take away today is that joy comes from knowing who we are, not, but believing in who he is. No, yeah, knowing our own limitations, knowing that we are broken people, part of a broken world. We're flawed, we're a mess, right, but we believe in the one who is greater. We believe in the one who is true, who is pure, who is perfect love, perfect peace, perfect hope. We know that our world isn't fair. We encounter difficult times and justice is everywhere we look. The dark chapters of life's journey can seem bleak and dismal, long and unending. And this is exactly, this is exactly when joy seems to be the furthest from us. Right, but God, and his good Goodness and mercy. He didn't simply grieve over the brokenness of our world. He followed through on his love for us and what he promised generations before and he came down to set it right as God in the flesh. He didn't just share our pain, but he also became active in carrying our pain and healing our pain. How beautiful it is this, this, this contrast, the cry of an infant Soothing the groans of a weary world. Well, right, the cries of an infant Soothing, this groaning that our weary world was crying out for.
Speaker 2:And so the challenge for us today is not to brush the worries and the pains aside with cliche answers and half-hearted actions. Unfortunately, we're not able to solve everybody's problems. Wish we could, right, wish we could solve our own problems, let alone everybody else is. However, what we can do, what we can decide at this very moment, is to Repeat the sounding joy, as it the Carol says. Repeat the sounding joy.
Speaker 2:Step boldly Into those spaces where joy seems to be non-existent with others. Proclaim the same hope that we've anchored our lives to, and allow that joy to stir in our hearts, as it did for Mary, that this Assurance and this belief that nothing is impossible with God, as Mary herself attested to, christmas changed everything. We no longer wait silently on the hillside, waiting and expecting our turn. Now is our turn to join in the chorus of angels, to repeat the sounding joy and to proclaim For all, for ourselves and for all to hear, that Christ, the Savior of the world, is here, and even in those moments when the weariness and the, the uncertainty and the darkness and the fear may creep in, cling to the promise.
Speaker 2:Do not be afraid. He is with you. He is with you, and that's my prayer for each one of us that we be reminded of that. It's so much easier said than done. We know the story, we can recite the story, but when we're confronted with the everyday realities, is the story more than just a story? I pray that it is, I pray that it's life, I pray that it's hope and I pray that it's the joy that we can tether our hearts to in every waking moment.
Speaker 1:For the people out there listening. I hope that you do have an opportunity, at least once this Christmas season, to actually crack open your Bible and read the story for yourself, because I always find that when I do that, I'm grasping onto something different every single time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1:One of my takeaways every time I read it, though, is just how Every part of it is so remarkable. Yeah, in the sequence of events, of the things that happen. You're talking about this. You know this teenage girl? Yeah, unmarried right. Having a child like in a barn? Yeah, I mean just so many like the end. This was God's plan right none of this was an accident right like this was his, his plan For Jesus to enter the world.
Speaker 3:And we can take it for, take the story for granted, or just become so, not numb, but like, yeah, mary, you know the virgin Mary had a baby and like it's just like, it becomes such, you know, a kind of cheap and, yeah, a normal rhetoric. How, when you stop and like look at it with fresh eyes yeah look at it with fresh eyes to be like Like this is crazy. Yeah, it's every dimension.
Speaker 2:Like you think of how counter-cultural Joseph had to be to oh yeah. Instead of exposing Mary to shame like he goes along with it and he.
Speaker 2:But he finds assurance in the dream, the messenger that comes to him and and validates his fears and we see how really noble and loyal and committed he was, even when it was, you know, waging war on him Psychologically and emotionally. And so there's all these different dimensions at work. And you know, they're trekking across the desert on a donkey, a pregnant woman and they there's nowhere to, there's nowhere to To go except for a barn. And just think of this, put yourself into the shoes of the story and be like man there's, there's no way I would have gone through with all yes, I can put my shoes on it, for yeah 40 weeks.
Speaker 1:Well, what you just said is sometimes I'll think about these stories in the Bible in terms of what didn't happen. What's not recorded, yeah and the choices they made. So, like every single person that an angel appeared to, they still had a choice. Yes, of course. The angel said do not be afraid. And this is what's going to happen.
Speaker 1:But put Mary in the context of today's world. Yes, she could have said no, yeah, she could have harmed herself, she could have tried to Abort that baby, or like I'm not, I'm not doing this, I'm not going through with it. Yeah, I can't do this just just the trek to Bethlehem, like I mean, yeah, how painful that must have been. Or like you know, you know, riding on this donkey through the desert or whatever they're doing. Seriously, like she could have just said no, no, I can't, I'm not, I'm done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm done with this, and so there's just so many Angles to that story that are just radical, remarkable, stunning. So if you get a chance to read it this Christmas season, take that opportunity, dig into it. There's just there's different things to take away every season, and I think it brings us to a point of repeat the sounding joy, a point of thankfulness, really a point of perspective on the world.
Speaker 3:Like thinking also about like the stable, the smells of the stable, like just really think about everything that would have taken place. And I actually heard this. This is actually kind of funny, but I heard or saw this meme or something online about the stable and it said you know, just as Mary exhausted Mary, like hello exhausted Mary after she had just gotten baby Jesus to sleep, is approached by a little boy with a drum. Who thinks, who thinks you know what this woman needs, a drum solo, a drum solo. Go away. But like it's so real and like even the even yeah.
Speaker 1:Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta ta.
Speaker 3:It's like I have a gift for you. She's probably like please stop. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:We're gonna love this. Just listen, just listen, just don't worry, don't worry.
Speaker 3:As you know, a sleeping baby Jesus starts crying.
Speaker 2:I've been working on this all night. Yeah, as they're trying to hide from a genocidal maniac, king Harris, let's bring attention to it, you know.
Speaker 3:It's just, it's so real, it's so real, the you know the wise men bringing gifts. It's like I just can't take one more visitor. You know what I mean, but it's just. It's when you bring humanity to it and you think of it in the perspective of like she was a woman, like she was a young mother.
Speaker 1:She just gave birth with no medical attention.
Speaker 3:Yeah, nothing, yeah, like there was no drugs that she was on to.
Speaker 1:I don't, I mean, I don't know that, but I wasn't From my recollection there was nothing in her prescription.
Speaker 3:No, but when you, when you just look at it from like, the eyes of reality, Like if this was you in each of these scenarios you've done you did this a lot in the earlier episodes like where are you in the story? You know, like think about the perspective of each person and it just makes it so much more real and it makes the miracle that much greater, instead of just something we read yeah, Through these advent weeks.
Speaker 2:There's a lot that happens between the margins of the pages, but what is evident is that Mary's response was one of steadfast commitment and trust and a God who saw beyond the immediate situation and lavished his blessing in favor upon her because of her obedience.
Speaker 1:Yep, yeah. Nate, would you close us in prayer today?
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's pray, heavenly Father. We thank you, lord, just to be called your children. Lord, we don't take that blessing for granted, god, that you saw fit to save us when we couldn't save ourselves, and that you made good on your promise, lord, to rescue us, to shine a light in the darkness, lord, as we reflect on this beautiful season, lord, and everything that it represents, god, I pray that we would not lose our thrill of hope and that we would not lose sight of the joy that is found in knowing you, amidst the busyness, amidst the chaos, amidst the personal traumas and struggles and frustrations with family and work and finances and all those other things, lord, that can take away. Lord, do we have, do we have, the dedication and the commitment to say, god, I trust you through it all? Lord, your ways are good, your ways are higher, and can we cling to that peace that is found only in you, god? I pray that we can.
Speaker 2:Lord, I just thank you. Lord, I pray for those who are tuning in today and maybe, god, are experiencing some stuff. Lord, I pray that your presence would just be real to them today. God, we thank you that you are Emmanuel, that you are God with us and that, because you are with us, there is nothing unseen by you, nothing unknown by you, nothing that you have not experienced or felt on your own. Lord, thank you for empathizing with us and, lord, for letting us know that you are a constant, steadfast presence through it all. Lord bless us. We pray in your name, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen. Well, that's just about a wrap on our Christmas special part two.
Speaker 2:Part two.
Speaker 1:I think part two might have been longer than part one.
Speaker 2:Maybe, we might have to turn this into multiple parts.
Speaker 1:These episodes are not short, so maybe if you're on the holidays and you're driving to grandma's house and it's three hours away, you can spend a little time on the Plugged In podcast. I don't know if you guys had any more thoughts about songs that you left off your list. I did have. I had a couple extras and my mom would be disappointed if I didn't mention them.
Speaker 3:Well, your mom is listening right now, so you better tell her. So this is for you, mom.
Speaker 1:There were two other albums that we played when we were kids, so one was Michael Bolton's Christmas.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then also I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but we definitely played Kenny G in our house.
Speaker 2:Nice, so no shame in that, that's.
Speaker 1:Soprano Sax. There it is, that's the second time we mentioned Saxophone. That's the saxophone Barry Sax and Soprano Sax.
Speaker 3:But no, this is Saxophone special.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so Kenny G was. He was all over at Christmas as kids.
Speaker 2:I've been trying to think what is the absolute worst Christmas song.
Speaker 3:Oh geez, and that's a different topic. That's a whole different.
Speaker 2:And I don't want to open the floodgates, but one song that I did leave off no, by all means open them. Well, I think Santa Baby's pretty terrible, but that's just me.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But one song that I was considering, but wait, I feel like every time that song is recorded the artist has.
Speaker 1:I don't think it's the worst. I don't think it's the worst, I just don't like it. It's kind of catchy.
Speaker 3:I disagree with him. I don't think it's the worst, but I do think that every time an artist records, it has to be like Santa Baby.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's way too, sexy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's way too breathy, I think. That's why I think it makes me uncomfortable. It's like Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to JFK.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, yeah, I don't even think of it. I don't even think of that In terms of that. I just think of it as kind of.
Speaker 3:It's very jazzy, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:We'll take away the lyrics and it's much better.
Speaker 1:Shout out to my wife, who will get absolutely like off the rails angry with me because I am one who I don't really sing the melodies, I only sing the bass lines. So You're that guy, yeah 100%, we're in the car. I'm like Doom doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom doom. She's like stop it for the love of all things. She'll let me go for like I'll get 30 seconds and then she's just like that's not the song. That's just a bass line.
Speaker 1:That's not the song I love her, I love her. So no, it's totally true, I get all soaked up in those bass lines, but anyways, merry Christmas to everyone listening to the Plugged In Podcast. We are almost one year old, full of episodes. We started in January 2023. And it's almost a wrap on our year, but that'll be the next episode.
Speaker 3:Our table has gotten smaller and smaller.
Speaker 1:The table has gotten smaller. We've recorded probably in 10 different locations by now, and we're going strong yeah. Eventually we'll find a home someday, but anyways, you guys want to say Merry Christmas to anybody out there.
Speaker 3:Merry Christmas to our families. And I know my mom's listening. I know we always had our Point of Grace Christmas album. That was our Natalie Grant those were the two. So, mom, there you go.
Speaker 1:All of our biggest fans, our parents, major Pat Henry, captains Justin and Marsha Barter.
Speaker 3:Yes, lin-anne, lin-anne Rivers.
Speaker 1:Mage, yeah off the top of my head. Those are our biggest fans.
Speaker 3:And the Brunelles, Lily Brunelle. Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Naomi listens to, the Ross family listens.
Speaker 3:We've got some loyal listeners, merry.
Speaker 1:Christmas to all of our listeners, and if you tell us that you listen, you automatically become our biggest fans.
Speaker 3:Yes, top of the list.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:I do have one announcement. Can I drop that we're running out of time, but okay, I know okay, we have like three seconds now. So we have some amazing Mass Youth beanies. You might have seen our Facebook post. Yes, If this is coming out after Christmas and you and you did spend time on the kettle or volunteering.
Speaker 2:You know helping out your core with the kettles or toy distribution or anything during the Christmas season. Send us a photo or just hit us up, let us know. We want to celebrate the fact that you came alongside to support during this busy yet rewarding season of ministry.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely Well. God bless all of you that are listening, but God bless your families, and Merry Christmas to all of you. This is the Plugged In podcast. We will see you next time.