Christmas in a Nutshell

An Open Letter from a PTA Mom to Mike Huckabee: A Message for Those Who Long for God’s Presence in Schools | Educate For Texas

An Open Letter from a PTA Mom to Mike Huckabee: A Message for Those Who Long for God’s Presence in Schools | Educate For Texas:

'via Blog this'  Excellent piece. I wish I'd written it! I've been saying the same thing though not so well! A friend found this and alerted me to it on Facebook. Mike Huckabee is loosing it. She, the author, is much nicer to him than I. Please read!

Christmas Tree Meditation

I was just reading a Facebook post from a family blog I follow. The author, the mother, said the Advent activity for tonight was to camp under the Christmas tree with the children. That brought memories to my mind. 


As a kid, and even young adult, I loved lying on the floor on my back under the Christmas tree, my head stuck in as far as it would go, looking through the branches, seeing the lights make shadows on the ceiling. I'd squint my eyes and see the colored lights dance and lengthen. It really was a meditative time. Sort of a "stop and smell the roses" moment, but the fragrance was of balsam pine. 

I still do this occasionally, but now our tree is up on an old trunk, so it's more difficult to lie under it. (I am sitting beside it currently though.) I especially concentrate on the different nativity or Holy Family ornaments. It was, and is, a time to think and pray, meditate, to focus on the important part of all the decorations, the "reason for the season," the birth of Jesus Christ-- Emmanuel, God with us. 

Back when, I often had Christmas music playing on the hifi or stereo record player as I starred at the ornaments and sparkles on the tree. Now I more often than not just have silence, which keeps my mind more focused. 

I'm re-reading an Advent devotional book by Jan L. Richardson called "Through the Advent Door." She writes what I have often thought about as well: "Like many folks, it's right around Christmas Eve that I finally feel ready for Advent. Sometimes it seems that only when I'm done with the doing of Christmas...that I am ready to attend to the internal preparations, to open my soul to the God who is ever waiting to be born there." 

Rev. Emily C. Heath: Dealing With Grief: Five Things NOT to Say and Five Things to Say In a Trauma Involving Children

Rev. Emily C. Heath: Dealing With Grief: Five Things NOT to Say and Five Things to Say In a Trauma Involving Children:

'via Blog this'   Excellent. And can apply to any tragedy. A must read for all people of faith.

A Mother's Plea

The Anarchist Soccer Mom: Thinking the Unthinkable:

'via Blog this'   This writing is worth reading. This mother deals daily with a 13-yr.old mentally ill and often violent son. There seem to be no answers or help for her in this horrible situation. We must improve our mental health system, and the stigma around mental illness.

To Santa or Not To Santa. That Is The Question.

To Santa or Not To Santa. That Is The Question.:

'via Blog this'  This post deals with the same question I wrote about in my Dec. 5, 2012 blog post. Rachel describes some of the issues of Santa Claus, the most important one being what will the kids think when they find out Santa is a 'fairy tale,' an illusion? 

That was my question. Will kids be disillusioned then with Jesus and Bible stories? Is Jesus make-believe too? I therefore advocate for teaching children about the real person St. Nicholas, and how he has changed over time into a make-believe, fictional character. Still emphasize the good things that Santa does in giving giving gifts, like St. Nicholas of old. 

Jesus, Santa, and the Elf on the Shelf

Jesus, Santa, and the Elf on the Shelf:

'via Blog this'   I just found this blogger on Pinterest and her post from 2011. Her topic and solution to the "Elf on the Shelf" is very helpful. I've been wanting to address the problem I see with the elf as a 'spy' for Santa, watching if the kids are naughty or nice, if they will get presents, etc. Not the message I want to send to my grandkids, or any kids for that matter. 

Instead of the 'spy' for Santa, the elf is there to remind the children how to be kind and so forth. Here's an excerpt from the blog:


 I don’t think the concept of Santa is evil, but I don’t want Santa to become the sole focus of the Christmas season for the kidlets … and I feel like it is very easy to slip into that.   Yes, I want them to have fun and enjoy the “magic” of Santa but I also feel very torn (convicted, maybe?) about having Santa and the whole “good list vs. naughty list“  and “what do you want for Christmas” enter into my kidlets’ world.  I am still questioning whether or not it was a good idea to bring in the ol’ guy.

But, for now, we now have Jesus, Santa, and an Elf named “Twinkle” in our house.

The letter is where I went off-script, so to speak, from the Elf on a Shelf book.  Our Elf isn’t here just to report who has been naughty or nice.  We’re not threatening the kidlets with the whole “naughty kids don’t get presents” thing.  No,  Twinkle is here — as a tangible way –  to help the kidlets remember (or learn, in Mr. Boy’s case) a few basic principals:
(directly quoted from Santa’s letter)

So, the little Elf in your box is here to help you kids (and your Mommy and Daddy) remember these important parts about Christmas: Jesus, God’s love and our job of joyfully sharing that love with others through our gifts, kind words and loving actions (the things we do for one another).

My Elf is going to hang out at your house, watching everything that happens … as a reminder for you to:

Love each other
Speak nicely to one another
Help each other
Help your friends and neighbors too
Give to people who don’t have all the stuff you have
Remember that God loves you kiddos so, so, so much.

Santa Lucia Day - December 13

Because I'm of Swedish-Danish heritage, and because my birthday is December 13, I've always been fascinated and interested in St. Lucia, a martyr because of her Christian faith and her kind deeds to the poor and needy. 

I have been St. Lucia once in college, with the real crown and lit candles (I didn't know one is to put a wet handkerchief down on your head/hair first, for safety and to catch wax drips---had to cut some out!). Then on my 30th birthday, the day after our younger daughter's birth, I was still in the hospital. It was a Sunday so my husband and older daughter were at church. Suddenly the hospital room door opened and in came a dear friend with a Lucia crown (battery lights), a large tray with a pot of coffee (Swedish coffee pot), a plate of Lucia Buns, and napkins. What a fantastic surprise that I recall with great pleasure every year at this time! My loneliness was gone, my happiness returned, and we had a lovely celebration. That friend gave me the Lucia crown with electric lights. I have used it more as decor, but did have our daughters use it and celebrate the day with it a couple times. In Sweden it's a holiday, but here we still had to go to school and work.

St. Lucia Day in Sweden (from Wikipedia)

Some trace the "re-birth" of the Lucia celebrations in Sweden to the tradition in German Protestant families of having girls dressed as angelic Christ children, handing out Christmas presents. The Swedish variant of this white-dressed Kindchen Jesus, or Christkind, was called Kinken Jes, and started to appear in upper-class families in the 18th century on Christmas Eve with a candle-wreath in her hair, handing out candy and cakes to the children. Another theory claims that the Lucia celebration evolved from old Swedish traditions of “star boys” and white-dressed angels singing Christmas carols at different events during Advent and Christmas. In either case, the current tradition of having a white-dressed woman with candles in her hair appearing on the morning of the Lucia day started in the area around Lake Vänern in the late 18th century and spread slowly to other parts of the country during the 19th century.

In the Lucia procession in the home depicted by Carl Larsson in 1908, the oldest daughter brings coffee and St. Lucia buns to her parents while wearing a candle-wreath and singing a Lucia song. Other daughters may help, dressed in the same kind of white robe and carrying a candle in one hand, but only the oldest daughter wears the candle-wreath.

St. Lucia (from Wikipedia)

Although sources for her life-story exist other than in hagiographies, St. Lucy is believed to have been a Sicilian saint who suffered a sad death in Syracuse, Sicily around AD 310. The Guilte Legende, a widespread and influential compendium of saint's biographies compiled in the late Middle Ages, records her story thus: She was seeking help for her mother's long-term illness at the shrine of Saint Agnes, in her native Sicily, when an angel appeared to her in a dream beside the shrine. As a result of this, Lucy became a devout Christian, refused to compromise her virginity in marriage and was denounced to the Roman authorities by the man she would have wed. They threatened to drag her off to a brothel if she did not renounce her Christian beliefs, but were unable to move her, even with a thousand men and fifty oxen pulling. So they stacked materials for a fire around her instead and set light to it, but she would not stop speaking, insisting that her death would lessen the fear of it for other Christians and bring grief to non-believers. One of the soldiers stuck a spear through her throat to stop these denouncements, but to no effect. Soon afterwards, the Roman consulate in charge was hauled off to Rome on charges of theft from the state and beheaded. Saint Lucy was able to die only when she was given the Christian sacrament.

In another story, Saint Lucy was working to help Christians hiding in the catacombs during the terror under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and in order to bring with her as many supplies as possible, she needed to have both hands free. She solved this problem by attaching candles to a wreath on her head.

Preparing for Christmas

Fr. Richard Rohr: Preparing for Christmas:

'via Blog this'   "Advent is not about a sentimental waiting for the Baby Jesus."   

We heard Fr. Richard Rohr speak at a conference several years ago. This is another good article on Advent. He talks about the mature person who does not just prepare for Baby Jesus birth, but for the Incarnation and all that it entails.

Advent Explained

Diana Butler Bass: Fox News' War on Advent: 'via Blog this'

Author Diana Butler Bass explains what Advent is all about. It's not Christmas yet. A good read.

Parenting Dilemma: What About Santa Claus?

When our children were young, we decided to emphasize the real St. Nicholas, a Christ-follower, and how this historical person had eventually been turned into Santa Claus, a fictional character. We still had stockings filled by Santa on Christmas morning. However I am quite sure, and our adult daughters now agree, that we all understood Santa was pretend, that Mom or Dad was the real giver of the presents. We also made sure to celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6. In fact, on St. Nicholas Eve, we had our daughters put their shoes outside their bedroom doors. In the morning they found little candies, coins, and maybe a small toy. We did this as a reminder or remembrance of the Bishop of Myra, St. Nicholas, a very real Christian man who lived as Christ taught. 

Below is an excerpt from www.AnnArbor.com - 

Parenting: Do you believe in Santa Claus?

By KERRY NOVICK AnnArbor.com Community Contributor  is a local psychoanalyst and a family consultant at Allen Creek Preschool. 

There is a crucial difference, to my mind, between sharing values and beliefs of your own with your children, as you do with religion or morality, and telling them something is true that you don’t actually believe. If you believe in Santa Claus too, then you aren’t lying to your child. If you don’t believe in Santa Claus, and say that he is real, you are lying to your child. I’ve stated this bluntly, for the sake of the logic of the situation, but I do have a solution to suggest that is based in the history of the Santa Claus idea.

The historical Christian Saint Nicholas was noted for his care for the needy and his devotion to children. In other words, the story is one of loving and giving. That is a beautiful story, filled with important feelings and messages for people of all ages. And there doesn’t have to be any magic around loving and giving, since that is what we all really do at this time of year, for our families and our communities.

You might say to your children that “Santa Claus is a beautiful story that many people all around the world tell at this time of year, when we especially show our love for each other. When we tell about Santa bringing gifts, we are talking about the gifts of love and caring, which we also show with presents to each other.” In this way, you are pointing out the underlying meaning of Christmas and de-emphasizing the material. In an ongoing way, you are also teaching the difference between real and pretend and enriching your child’s mind with an understanding of symbols and metaphors.

You can tell your children that “everyone loves that beautiful story. Some people love it so much that they want to believe it’s true. We respect other people’s beliefs, so we won’t disagree or make fun of them. You and they can each think what you want, and everyone can enjoy loving and giving at Christmas.”

St. Nicholas Day - December 6

Nicholas, An Advent Saint 

from http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/advent-saint/

Advent is the time when Christians prepare to greet Christ—who came as a babe in a manger, who comes into our lives each day, and who will come again at the end of time. Advent is the time when people of faith are most at odds with the culture. The church calls people to focus on getting ready to receive Christ—preparing hearts and lives to make room for Jesus, to live as he would have us live. It is a time of longing, not fulfillment. Quiet reflection, not celebration. The culture, however, is already in a time of festivity, unable or unwilling, to wait and contemplate and prepare for the real festival. It is not easy to observe Advent without being pulled prematurely into Christmas.

How does St. Nicholas fit into all of this? He is an Advent saint because his December 6th feast day always falls in early Advent (Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas between November 27 and December 3). However, Nicholas is a good Advent saint for more important reasons than the date of his special day. Whatever he did, and it is said that he did many kinds of amazing things, may not be as important as the way he did it. Nicholas became so popular because he was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. His life clearly reflected the way each one of us is called to show God's love to others, especially those in need.

Celebrating St. Nicholas on his day in Advent brings a bit of fun and festivity into homes, churches, and schools. His small treats and surprises help keep the spirit of good St. Nicholas, especially when stories of his goodness and kind deeds are told and ways to express his care for those in need are sought. Saint Nicholas helps us remember Christmas is a feast of love, hope, kindness and generosity. Yes, Nicholas is a good Advent saint.

Scripture Advent Calendar for Future

I ran across this from a Pinterest post and am grateful the author/blogger has put the scripture cards together! For a future Advent Calendar when Grandson can read maybe?

http://www.1dogwoof.com/2012/11/scripture-advent-calendar.html

Thanks to www.1dogwoof.com

December Calendar for Grandson

There are many great ideas on Pinterest and blogs about making Advent or December Count-Down Calendars. I attempted to make my first and it turned out OK for our 3-year-old grandson. It is not as elaborate and complex as some, but worked for us this year. 

I bought small sacks at Walmart for 25 cents each. I printed the numbers on card stock and glued them on. I bought little party favors again at Walmart and divided them up among the sacks. The clothespins I sprayed silver with some leftover spray paint. Our daughter provided the cord and put the whole thing together under their kitchen bar. Grandson H. was happy to open the first few (didn't get mailed off to them very early so they just received it Dec. 3) and gave me a big "thank you" on the phone last night!

For a toddler I think they are just right. I will do the more elaborate ones with activity cards, or such, in the future when he is older. Meantime, we all are happy with this one!