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Fear Not series of GRAPHICS by Doyle Burbank-Williams from Worship Alternatives.
Also see Be (Un)Afraid, Be Very (Un)Afraid! by Bob Sitze.

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Archives: Index
Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? #25
An Advent and Christmas Resource for Families, Individuals and Churches

Whose Birthday? is for your personal inspiration, community education and sharing.
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The resource is not available in print. You may make all the copies you choose. It is covered by Creative Commons non-commercial attribution share-alike license.

Choose from 20 daily Advent/Christmas guides/calendars. Some are lectionary-based, some are thematic. Copy your choice on recycled paper as a bulletin insert, in your own Advent-Christmas booklet or as a series in your weekly service bulletin.

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Table of Contents

Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?

An Advent and Christmas Resource for Families, Individuals and Congregations

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Reflections & Activities

My Advent Adventure I-Want-To-Go-Deeper Daily Guide

Hand-made Gifts Are Best

Advent Series #1: Unwrapping Christmas in a Different Paradigm (5 parts)

Advent Series #2: The Unholy Family of Christmas (6 parts)

Humorous Christmas Art

10 Tips to Avoid the Stifled Comfort Zone

Whose Birthday? How-To

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Resources

Colleague Organizations

  • Advent Conspiracy
  • Mustard Seed Associates (GodSpace)
    • Advent Resources for Kids 2013
    Advent Resources Galore for 2013 Coming Home to God Meditation VIDEO Coming Home to the Advent Story PODCAST
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    Hand-made Gifts Are Best

    We celebrate Christmas with a large group that includes my husband and myself, our sons, my best friend and her mother, my parents, and now my older son's wife, and sometimes a few others.

    In addition to some gifts, we do stockings. When the group first grew to be eight people, I found myself with the role of providing stocking stuffers for all of the stockings . . . . which was pretty overwhelming. So one year, we came up with the idea that each person would provide one item for each other person's stockings. They were to be small items--a pen, hand lotion, or something cute and fun that fit the relationship between the giver and receiver. They are to be anonymous. My younger son was only 5 when we began, and he had no funds with which to purchase anything, so he, with help at first, began making small items out of playdough, items which 'fit' the other person's life at the time; for example, the year I graduated with a Master's Degree, my stocking stuffer from Kyle was a clay 'diploma.' The year my best friend bought a small cabin in the Adirondacks, her's was a small clay 'cabin.'

    Every year we all look forward, probably more than anything, to what small item will be in our stocking from Kyle, and all of them have been saved over the years, decorating shelves, etc. with memories. He is now 21, and this past year was the first year he switched from clay to a new 'medium,' which was to make each of us a cd with music he thought we would like. Although the rest of us generally purchase items, it is probably the most fun part of our Christmas gift - waiting to see what little things show up in stockings.

    Kathleen Gorman-Coombs
    May 31, 2013

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    Page updated 23 March 2014

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