Welcome back to #TravelThursday, and the first edition of 2024. It’s going to be a big year of travel for me as I settle-in to life as a retiree. I’ve got a long open-ended road-trip that I’m starting to plan for the month of April. I know I’m leaving on the morning of April Fool’s Day, but I don’t know when I’m returning home. (That’s why I’m calling it “open-ended”.) I’ll be writing about this road-trip a lot – before, during, and after – here on #TravelThursday, so buckle-up if you’re going along for the virtual ride.
#ButFirst it’s the continuation of my recap of 2023. I drove 11,721 miles in 2023. That’s the most number of miles driven over the past 9 years (since I’ve driven 1 of 3 Honda Civics). It’s also the most number of miles driven since 2004 (when I drove a new Saturn Ion 3 Quad Coupe 4D). How do I know all of this ? I keep accurate records via Excel Spreadsheet – more so now than in the past. I exceeded 1,000 miles in 8 out of 12 months – with January, September, November, and December being the exceptions. All of those miles were fueled by my 20 trips to my new home near Sebring Florida – and my 19 trips back to my longtime home in Homestead Florida. (Each trip was about 185 miles each way.)
My next 1,000-mile month will be in April, and in fact it will likely be a 2,500-mile month. It has the potential of being a 3,000-mile month – depending on the duration of my road-trip.
Next #TravelThursday – I’ll conclude my “Year In Review”, and I’ll reveal if I was able to walk 1,000 miles in 2023. Let’s keep traveling together.
All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back over 45 years. And now – it’s a special based on all of my weekly charts of last year – My Top 23 Hits of 2023:
BRANDON LAKE – In 2022 it was Brandon Heath, and in 2023 it’s Brandon Lake. After 5 minor hits on my chart (mostly collaborations with other artists) – Brandon Lake broke out in a big way with a long-running # 1 solo smash that is my # 1 smash of the entire year. In fact – it wasn’t until its 23RD and final week on my chart (last weekend) – that “Praise You Anywhere” clinched the # 1 spot for the year – over Matt Maher’s “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)”. It entered my chart in the middle of July, and it stayed on through Christmas Eve. And it even had a fun music video to watch:
MATT MAHER – His 3RD hit on my chart – “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” – was his 2ND # 1 smash. It was my longest-running chart-topper of the year at 12 weeks. It was also my longest-running chart-topper in over 2 years – since Cade Thompson’s “Every Step Of The Way”. I thought for sure that it would be my # 1 smash of the year. I thought it clinched back in June, but that was before Brandon Lake arrived on the radio scene. Nevertheless – it was an instant add into Praise + Worship at church services on Sunday mornings. (We already knew the words from Matthew 6.)
REPEATING ARTISTS – Matthew West, Dan Bremnes, Cochren & Co., Jordan Feliz, Ben Fuller, for King + Country, and We The Kingdom are the 7 artists who were also on My Top 22 Of 2022 chart a year ago. In fact – Ben Fuller and for King + Country charted with the same songs, as their respective chart life spanned the end of 2022 and the start of 2023.
MATTHEW WEST – My # 1 artist of the past 359 weeks with 8 songs and 165 weeks on my chart – Matthew West – makes it a perfect 7 out of 7 years in a row on my year-end chart. This year he did it with “My Story Your Glory” – which was already on my chart (in its 3RD week) when 2023 began.
CONCLUSION – My Top 23 Of 2023 chart was compiled by awarding 10 points for each week at # 1, 9 points for # 2, and so forth and so on down to 1 point for # 10. The points were then added, and the hits were ranked. 55 songs charted in 2023. There were 10 # 1 hits, and they all made it onto my chart above. It was a great year for positive and encouraging music on the radio that told the story of God and gave Him all of the glory. What a great chart to represent His music. Let’s continue to praise and worship Him as we go forth into 2024.
SPOTIFY – You can hear My Top 23 Of 2023 anytime simply by heading over to my playlist on Spotify. All 23 hits are there from top to bottom. You can hear them in order from # 1 to # 23, or you can shuffle them. You can link to it here. It’s 1 hour and 21 minutes of the greatest hits of 2023 !
This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again with the new weekend – and 3 new entries – known as #TravelThursday, #SundayScripture, and #MusicMonday.
Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. I’m also on Spotify, X, and Flickr.
Be blessed my friends ! May our God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back over 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday December 31ST 2023 – the 359TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:
SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime simply by heading over to my CountUp playlist on Spotify. All 10 hits are there from top to bottom. You can hear them in order from # 1 to # 10, or you can shuffle them. My playlist will be updated every weekend (usually before the actual chart is presented here on Mondays). You can link to it here.
TOP 23 OF 2023 – Happy New Year 2024 ! Tomorrow’s the day that I publish my Top 23 Of 2023. And it will also have its very own Spotify playlist.
Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. I’m also on Spotify, X, and Flickr.
Be blessed my friends ! May our God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Greetings my friends. It is Sunday December 31ST 2023, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.
It is the last day of 2023, and this is my 186TH and final blog post of the year. That’s actually the least amount of blog posts in a year since 2018. It’s down because I eliminated my #RetroFriday posts in May. I’ll be back in 2024 (starting tomorrow) for my regularly-scheduled #TravelThursday, #SundayScripture, and #MusicMonday posts – with occasional special Tuesday and Wednesday posts.
I thank you all for reading my blog each week. I’ll continue writing it as long as you continue reading it. And I’ll continue to respect your time. Each of my blog posts can be read in less than 4 minutes.
The old – 2023 – has passed on. It’s behind us. We can’t do anything about it. What’s said is said. What’s done is done. But behold – the new creation – 2024 – has come. The Lord said, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold – I am doing a new thing.” Our God said, “I am making all things new.”
2023 was a great and life-changing year for me. Miracles occurred. Dreams came true. But I know that God will lead me to an even greater 2024, as I continue to move closer to Him. I pray that 2024 is a greater year for you as well.
My testimony is featured here each week on #SundayScripture whether it’s part of a sermon, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord, and get closer to Him with each new day.
If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !
Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:
The LORD bless you, and keep you. The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
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