What happens when you travel across the globe to step out of your comfort zone, only to realize the most profound lessons might be waiting for you back home on your couch? This week on the What a Gift podcast, we dive into the profound gifts hiding in simple pleasures and extreme sacrifice. Jule and Sarra unpack the lessons learned from beloved traditions and transformative, unexpected adventures.

🎁 WHAT’S INSIDE 🎁

The Gift of Movie Nights

We define the crucial role of the Friday night film as a timeless gift. Jule shares the specifics of her childhood movie nights, which featured a ritual of renting two movies from Blockbuster, ordering pizza, soda, and making brownies. Hear about the standouts—like watching Toy Story for the first time—and other favorites, including the animated Anastasia and Newsies (starring Christian Bale). Jule also explores the burdens of modern viewing, such as the paralysis of choice caused by streaming, and how she struggles with "attention fragmenting" while trying to be present during a film. We also discuss the modern necessity of using subtitles for everything (a habit Jule attributes to The Great British Baking Show).

The Gift of Mission Trips

We explore the transformative—and often difficult—experience of relational mission work. Sarra recounts her beginnings as a youth group kid on a service-oriented trip to the Czech Republic. Jule shares her shocking and turbulent experience leading a trip to Tanzania. Hear the story of arriving via luxurious Swiss Air only to face extreme turbulence on a connecting local flight, landing on a red dirt runway at the wrong location, and the month-long experience that pushed Jule and her team to their limits. Plus, Sarra shares the infamous story of her very first mission trip to Chile, where her complaint about being cold led a kind local to post on the parish Facebook page, resulting in #gringothon2015, where locals donated blankets and sleeping bags to the cold "gringo" visitors. Ultimately, we discuss how relinquishing control and comfort opens you up to receive gifts of relationship and profound experiences.

The Gift of Perspective (Closing Segment)

We look back into the archives to unwrap hidden lessons. Sarra shares a May 2015 journal entry written during a road trip, detailing her wrestling match with FOMO and the feeling that she was "forgettable" and "dispensable" after leaving her friends. Then, Jule reveals a 2004 journal entry from age 13 documenting a classic family movie night tug-of-war that resulted in turning off both Mean Girls ("Trashy") and Conspiracy Theory ("Bizarre") before happily settling on A Cinderella Story.

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