Before After Christmas W/Ornam
Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, is a rich season often swallowed up by the world’s commercialism. In the same way, the season of Christmas, the twelve days from Christmas Day to Epiphany on January 6, is also lost as people return to ‘business as usual.’Many of the people I know and have met through my Advent workshops have echoed my thoughts – there must be alternatives to the hectic pace of this time of year. If you have thought the same thing, this book is for you. Through family activities, family time, and family fun, this book gives direction to help us focus more on the true meaning of the days before and after Christmas.When we take time to prepare, reflect, and renew ourselves during Advent, we eagerly await the birth of Jesus, God’s greatest gift to us. These four weeks help us truly celebrate the gift of God’s Son on Christmas Day and the days following.Although this book is intended primarily for families, anyone will benefit from using it, especially those who work with children. It contains information about the history and traditions of the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, as well as symbols and their meanings, the stories of the seasons, and activities for each day up to Epiphany.Read through the entire book, then decide how you will use it. For instance, if you have small children you may want to extend activities to more than one day. Or you may want to switch activities from one day to another, depending on the amount of time you will have and the type of activity. Don’t feel you have to do everything! There are enough ideas here to keep a family busy for several Christmas seasons.--This text refers to an alternatePaperbackedition.