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Prayers for the Christmas Season

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Activities for the Christmas Season

Christmas All Year

At Christmas time, there is a flurry of activity and special programs at nursing homes, hospitals, and other institutions serving the less fortunate. At other times during the year, many lonely persons go without visitors or signs of care. During this Christmas season, reflect on your gifts as a family and the needs in your community. Then, make a commitment to get involved in some kind of service program on a regular basis throughout the year. Write out your commitment and place it in an envelope. Tuck it in the branches of your tree or lean it against the manger scene as your gift to the God of love.

Family Talent Night

The holiday season can become so busy that family gets squeezed out of the picture. Set aside some time in your calendar for a family talent night. Be sure that everyone know about a week in advance so that they can spend some time in preparation. Family members may wish to share a Christmas story or song, a musical piece on an instrument, a poem of their own creating or from their favorite author, a brief puppet show, a skit, a joke or two, and so on. Be creative and have fun. It might be good to set a few ground rules, such as, “No criticism is allowed” and “The person presenting gets everyone’s undivided attention.” End with a snack and compliments.

Visit of the Wise Men

This activity is especially appropriate for the feast of the Epiphany, the visit of the wise men. Prepare the batter for a cake or cupcakes. Secretly put in one or two candy kisses or pieces of a chocolate bar, being sure that they are fully covered. If you wish, you may plan a special family meal celebrating the wise men’s visit to the Christ Child. Other families will prefer to have a special treat time together. If you have a meal, begin with dessert. The person whose piece of cake contains the candy kiss or chunk of chocolate is the queen or king of the meal. You may wish to have a paper crown for the king or queen to wear. The king or queen gets to choose who sits where, who will do the reading or lead the prayer, what TV show the family will watch after supper, and so on. You may wish to begin the meal or treat time with the reading about the wise men from Matthew 2:1-12.

Gifts to Last a Lifetime

Have each person in the family create a collage of their talents and interests by cutting pictures, words, symbols, or phrases out of magazines or newspapers and pasting them on a paper plate or piece or construction paper. The collage should express the uniqueness of each person. Young children will need help looking for scenes or words that express their specialness. Then, give each person a chance to talk about his or her gifts, talents, and interests. You may want to give each unique creation a standing ovation.

(Excerpted from FAMILY FAITH & FUN, by Gary J. Boelhower, © 1996. Used with permission of HI-TIME Publishing Corp. Available upon request through For Heaven's Sake.)