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Whose Birthday? #19 FUN ACTIVITIES

Fun Activities

QUOTES

Creating rituals for our children is one of the most vital and joyful roles that parents fill. More and more studies show that kids raised with thoughtful, affirming traditions grew into resilient, nurturing adults. -Meg Cox

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Celebrate this season with every one of your senses, and as many of the people you love as possible. Send the light within you out into the world, with your particular blessings. -Meg Cox

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“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill

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There’s a Camel in Our Bathroom!

By Nancy Christenson

Our nativity came alive this Christmas as we tried a little experiment. Our usual tradition is to keep Baby Jesus wrapped as a special gift to be opened first on Christmas morning.

This year our decorations went up later than usual, so the kids’ church Christmas program was fresh in our minds, with thoughts of the wise men’s long journey following the star particularly clear. Instead of setting all the nativity guests in place in the stable under the tree, just waiting for the star attraction, we added more space.

The kids found “fields” for the shepherds and sheep, and home “lands” for the wise men and their camels. The only figures who moved before Jesus arrived, were the sheep and shepherds, looking for fresh pasture to graze in. The anticipation filled the kids with excitement and wonder—WHEN will these journeys begin??

I will admit it was a little startling for a while to meet the wise man in the bathroom and the one in the pantry between the cereal boxes. But it really brought home the timeline of events of that first Christmas for our whole family.

Baby Jesus arrived on Christmas morning and the shepherds met the assorted heavenly hosts dangling in the hallway before they headed over to the stable. The wise men finally spotted the biggest and “brightest” wooden star ornament hanging over the stable and took their time journeying across the house so that they arrived on January 6 (Epiphany). For us, Christmas became more than just one night.

In fact, I hadn’t realized how effective this little experiment was until after the wise men’s visit, when my son suddenly panicked that all the figures had to go home and Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to get out of there! Alarmed, I questioned what was wrong and he replied, “Nobody STAYED, Mom! Besides, Herod is after Jesus and they have to get to Egypt!!!”

The Holy family made it to “Egypt” safely and the others returned home. God’s story of His greatest gift filled us with the passion that only He can stir in our hearts. And I think we began a new family tradition!

May your Christmas be more than just one Holy night!

QUOTES

The anticipation filled the kids with excitement and wonder—WHEN will these journeys begin??

I was a little startling for a while to meet the wise man in the bathroom and the one in the pantry between the cereal boxes.

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Giving Circles

by Meg Cox

At this time of year, those of us blessed with comfortable lives start thinking about all those others who struggle to eat, sleep, live and learn.

It’s great to donate to the needy while full of holiday spirit, but how do we take those philanthropic impulses and weave them into the ritual fabric of our year-round lives?

Here’s a giving ritual for groups of grownups. Family traditions of giving and community service are important, but it’s also imperative that parents strengthen their bonds with people outside their families.

One philanthropic ritual growing in popularity is something called Giving Circles. These are the reverse of Investment Clubs, in which groups of people meet regularly to collectively invest their money. In Giving Circles, people meet to give their money away.

It’s a simple idea, which is one of its charms. Many circles meet monthly, often holding meetings while sharing a meal. Some include just a handful of close friends, while a few in Silicon Valley, which helped make this form of philanthropy trendy, have hundreds of members. The money mounts up: according to the New York Times, giving circles have donated more than $44 million since 2000.

The idea is to move beyond your pet charities. Research charities from the local to the global, then pool your resources for a common goal. Unless your bank account rivals that of Bill Gates, it’s hard to feel like you’ve made a real difference when you write a check by yourself. But if your Giving Circle commits to a handful of causes and embraces them with passion, you will make a difference and feel like a player. You could, for example, become the sustaining force behind a charity in your town that really changes lives.

I love this concept because I believe that living a compassionate life transforms us for the better and makes us happier. I also believe most people are hungry for friendships that progress beyond gossip and small talk. Uniting with others on a regular basis to achieve a goal that is bigger than oneself fits my broad definition of a spiritual ritual.

For the nitty gritty on how they work and how to set one up, visit an excellent website, www.givingforum.org/givingcircles.

[The remainder of this article did not appear in the booklet.]

     And I want to recommend a charity that I think fits well with Giving Circles, a charity where small amounts of money work miracles. The organization is called Trickle Up and is a pioneer in the growing field of micro-lending, giving small loans to help entrepreneurs start businesses, often in poor countries. Trickle Up, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, gives many loans of $100. That may seem like peanuts, but it's enough to let women with few resources open a produce stall or buy materials for a crafts business. From this modest start, they can feed their families, send their kids to school, and build a future. Last year alone, Trickle Up funded 9,858 businesses, 75% of them started by women.

     Given the season, I should also mention that a donation to Trickle Up is a great holiday gift from individuals. If you go to the website, www.trickleup.org, you will see that you can give money in someone's name and get a beautiful card to inform them of that precious gift.

     Giving Circles are awesome but not the only way to go. For awhile now, I've been thinking about starting something called a Save the World Circle, which could eventually lead to philanthropy but would start as a more purely educational exercise. I would love to gather a small group of friends together to meet monthly over coffee and talk about the state of the world, gathering information from books and articles that we would share with one another.

     There's a powerful book called "50 Facts That Should Change the World," which I think would make an excellent resource for such a group. Each fact (e.g. A third of the world's population is at war) is followed by just a few pages of background. The book doesn't suggest what should be done, just states the facts. I could envision discussing three or four of these facts in depth at each meeting, with group members assigned to bring additional resources about the topic. At the end, the group would have a much clearer picture of the world's woes and injustices and could decide what to do about them alone, or together. Anybody want to join?

"50 Facts That Should Change the World" is available from Alternatives. (from Meg Cox’s Ritual Newsletter, December, 2005. For a free subscription, email FamilyRituals@aol.com.)

Meg’s book The Book of New Family Traditions” is available from Alternatives.

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BONUS

GIVING CIRCLES: PART TWO

Remember last month, when I wrote about the concept of Giving Circles and I said there are other ways to turn philanthropy into a friendship ritual? Another twist on this was mentioned in a recent issue of O magazine. There was an article about a group of friends in California called Chicks With Checks. They decided to throw a dinner party and charge each guest $35, with all the money going to a local charity for homeless kids. The women served a simple dinner including pasta salad, bread, cookies, white wine and water, and raised $3,000 in one evening. They now hold a dinner party for charity every other month. In between, they hold "virtual dinners" and ask people to send in a check anyway.

May your new year be full of love and laughter, and may you all be rich in rituals! love, Meg (from Meg Cox's Ritual Newsletter, January 2006)

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Gifts of Kindness

By Becky White

I have a kindergartner, and we wanted to make sure he knew whose birthday it was.

This year at the start of Advent, we wrapped a shoebox in gift-wrap and cut a small hole in the top. Placed a bow and label, “To Jesus, From Gary, Becky, Henry and Anna.” Then each week each of us tried to do at least three special acts of kindness. These things had to be out of the ordinary. In other words, mom can’t say “I washed everyone’s laundry” because that is something she does anyway as a mom. Each act of kindness was recorded on a small piece of paper, with the “doer’s” name on it, and placed inside the box.

Then on Christmas morning, we opened the box and read the messages out loud. It was good for our kids to see that we really did put some effort into giving a “present” to Jesus. And it was also good for them to hear the different “acts of kindness” so that they get additional/new/more ideas of things they could do themselves all throughout the year. We will definitely do this again next year! Happy New Year!

QUOTE

Each week each of us tried to do at least three special acts of kindness. Then on Christmas morning we opened the box and read the messages out loud.

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Giving While Spending

As a family, select a cause or organization to support with money you collect during Advent and the twelve days of Christmas. Choose a percentage early in the season (from 25% to 100%). Then give that amount every time you spend any money for Christmas… in addition to the amount you normally give away. Decorate a can to hold the money. Put it on display. 20 bucks on a tree? Then goes in the can. This money is not a penalty; rather it serves as a reminder and aid to help others. Donate the money on Epiphany, the day the Magi offered their gifts to Jesus.

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Reducing Christmas Chaos

By Ann Dieleman

After working for years to REALLY CELEBRATE Christmas and not get caught in the frenzy of consumerism, this year I tried something different that seemed to work.

I didn’t want to repeat last year’s experience on Christmas morning chaos of unwrapping so many gifts (even small, well-chosen tokens of love) with my husband, father, children, and grandchildren that we couldn’t appreciate each one. You couldn’t even remember who gave you what. Even the adults were hyper, whiny, and confused.

So I decided to give and receive no gifts on Christmas day. I wanted my gifts to be gifts of love, not obligation, and not dictated by a retailer’s calendar. I am spacing out my gifts. No one knows what they will get or when. There’s a lot more mystery and it feels a lot more like love.

At Thanksgiving I exchanged gifts with my daughter from Pittsburgh (who couldn’t come for Christmas). In mid-December I made gingerbread with my older grandkids and gave each a Christmas storybook when I had time to read to them. Before Christmas when my grandkids spent the night, I gave them new pj’s and cuddled with them the next morning. When we travel to Guatemala in March I hope to bring back colorful scarves or necklaces and give them away while I’m still excited about the trip. These Fair Trade items are much for educational and meaningful than mass-produced stuff.

This all leaves me free on Christmas day for church and family gatherings, eating, sledding, long walks and talks. Free to REALLY CELEBRATE that God comes to us right where we are! Hallelujah!

QUOTE

I am spacing out my gifts. No one knows what they will get or when. There’s a lot more mystery.

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Enough, Already!

Mary Sharon Moore, Grand Forks, ND, Koinonia

I accomplished my Christmas shopping in under three minutes this year, standing in one aisle in my local grocery store. I bought rice and beans for all my family and friends (nice rice and spicy beans), and am making a donation of money in their name to a favorite charity.

Why rice & beans? That’s a REAL world menu. That’s what 2/3’s of the world’s population eats daily.

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Christmas Year-round

By Gail McDonough

My oldest son, 40, and his family are really working on “simplifying” and asked our entire family and extended family to consider buying less and thinking about how they could celebrate Christmas differently.

He drew my name in the adult gift basket and was thrilled because I agree completely with him on working toward changing our “traditions.”

He made me a “Monthly Christmas Gift Coupon Book” as my gift. It was very nicely done on his computer with borders on each month’s coupon. The following are his gifts to me for the coming year. Each page has in bold capital letters “Monthly Christmas Gift Coupon. . . Presented to MOM.”

This Certificate entitles the bearer to. . .

I particularly appreciate this gift because he lives far enough away that I often do not see him every month and it is the gift of time and presence.

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Discover NO COST Gifts!

Haid

by Richard L. Haid

This Christmas, Hanukah or Kwanzaa season offers a unique opportunity to create and give “no cost” gifts as you review the purpose of Christmas and how you celebrate it. For many the Christmas season is not as joyous as they would like it to be. They may have fewer financial resources and be more cautious about using credit, and feel less abundant about life in general. In the process of discovering your “no cost” gifts and rethinking how you want to celebrate Christmas, you may discover new skills and interests in the process.

EXAMPLES of “no cost” gifts

1. Gifts of Experience

Your gift possibilities:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Gifts You Have Created or Recycled

Your gift possibilities:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Other Kinds of Gifts, such as

Your gift possibilities:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ways that you may modify, and yet enhance your Christmas celebration this year:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Gifts of Ourselves Certificate

(several certificates could be assembled into a coupon book)

For Someone Special

This certificate entitles _________________________

to _____________________________________

from ___________________________________

Richard L. Haid, PhD., is an Adult Mentor in Hamilton, OH. Learn more at adultmentor.com. His motto is “Helping guide persons into the Abundance of the Third Quarter of Life. Don’t miss it!”

See his Christmas teleconferencing at Volunteers >> Activities to Try #9.

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Reduce, Reuse & Remember

New Cards from Old

By Gretchen Denton

Many times I don’t have enough December hours to savor the Christmas cards we receive. I read the notes, glance at the cards, and toss them in a basket “to look at later.” Then, at the end of the season I bundle all the cards and stack them on an empty shelf in the basement where it isn’t long before I have four years of old cards that I don’t want to discard.

One of this summer’s hottest days I started making new cards from those old ones, working in the basement where it was cool. It gave me another opportunity to re-read those cards and to appreciate their beauty. Here’s how I enjoyed remembering friends and family while creating new cards.

I cut from the card a picture that would fit on a folded piece of card stock. All the cards, whether they were horizontal or vertical were made the same size of approximately 4x5 inches so each sheet of the recycled card stock yielded two cards and cards of this size fit in ready-made envelopes. I used envelopes that come from organizations that send you “free” Christmas cards because I don’t usually send those unrequested cards.

You could use a rubber stamp for your message but I prefer to print mine with the computer. I like to decorate the paper where the cutout from the old card will be placed before I attach the cutout. Spatter-painting using screen and tooth brush, coloring abstract designs with crayons, colored pencils or markers, using a rubber stamp over and over to create a pattern, marbleizing paper by rolling paint covered marbles over paper are some options. You can match the predominant color of your cutout with the design you apply to the one side of the paper. I used an iron covered with aluminum foil, colored on the hot iron with old crayons that melted, and then pressed the paper with the foil-covered iron to create a design unique for every card.

After applying the cutout I signed the back of my cards with my personal logo, a circle of red and green with arrows to represent my form of recycling.

This would be a project to do with children when you simplify your Christmas giving and don’t need to be spending days in the mall. For a neater look, adults can do the cutting up of old cards (and re-reading the enclosed messages) or it could be a kids project entirely to make just a few cards for special friends. It can be a good way to spend time together, dabbling in color and pattern for the fun of it, and sharing parts of those cards too beautiful to toss in the trash or hide on a basement shelf.

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BONUS

Make Your Own Envelopes Too!

When I make birthday cards or other special occasion cards I like to make my own decorative envelopes, something that complements the color and design of the card I’ve created. Envelopes (and boxes) start their lives as flat pieces of paper. Take one apart and see how it’s made and there’s a pattern for your envelope. Or, find a book at your local library that has envelope patterns or go to the Internet for instructions. You can buy plastic templates that work well but I just fold and cut to fit whatever sized card I’ve made. A helpful hint is to check with the Postal Service to see what are standard envelope sizes because square envelopes cost more to mail and there are minimum and maximum sizes.

Sources of beautiful paper for these envelopes are old calendars! Calendar pictures of heavy paper are the best and large ones are good for big envelopes. Some folks would line the envelope with tissue paper but I let the back of the calendar show inside the envelope. I usually use two-sided tape for the necessary adhesion and either two-sided tape or stickers to fasten it closed (or both). I write the address on a self-adhesive label and use an address label as well. The address label can also be used to adhere the flap to the envelope.

It’s fun to find just the right calendar page to send my handcrafted card and I am slowly using up all those old calendars that were too good to discard at the end of the year!

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Peace in Any Language

Here’s an alternative gift idea that took on special meaning for me some years ago.

I designed a Peace Stick and made several for family and friends at Christmas. First, I went to the local Scouting Supply store, and bought a dozen walking staffs. I got a wood burning kit, and burned the words for “peace” into the stick, in 10-12 different languages.

I am not an “artsy” person, so it was a real effort. What made it really special for me, was that I was able to use my late dad’s garage/workshop. It was almost like he was still present while I was working.

The next step would be to make my own walking sticks.

The Peace Sticks have been seen in ministers’ offices, school classrooms, and even in a fundraiser walk for the homeless. I gave a labor of the heart, along with coffee cakes, made from a family recipe. It was very special.

Jerry Wrenn, Hayward, CA

Words for Peace

This list comes from “Welcoming the Prince of Peace: A Four-Session Activity Guide for Leaders of Older Children (Ages 9-11)” available free at SimpleLivingWorks.org>> Archives>> Christmas Packs>> Gifts of Peace.

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New Christmas Traditions You Can Share

By Karen Boe

We live with several animals at Schoenridge Farm in Northwest Missouri. One of our family traditions is to go out and give special treats to the animals before we have our own meal. Included in this is a Danish tradition of putting bread on the trees for the wild birds. We have the treat of watching them.

We cut a Red Cedar from our own land (there are plenty) instead of a traditionally decorated tree. Then, instead of gifts, we put woodland creatures (stuffed animals) under the tree to remind us to be mindful of the wild life with whom we share this planet.

We have quit buying traditional gifts even though we still have a thirteen-year-old homeschooled daughter. She is VERY okay with our found or dumpster-dived objects and occasionally we purchase from a fair trade organization or especially local artisans.

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St. Nicholas on Parade

By The Rev. Celine A. Burke

Last year Holy Trinity parish took part in the Victorian Christmas parade in our town of Manistee, Michigan. Our float featured St. Nicholas in full costume and the children of the parish in Victorian costumes. Some of the children we dressed as wealthy children and others as poor children. The next day, which was the Sunday closest to St. Nicholas day, St. Nicholas came to church and told the children stories about helping poor children.

This way we help the children become involved with needy families.

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