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LiveAbundantly.com
is a world wide web ministry of
Christ
Presbyterian
Church
a center of faith
for living abundantly
3400 State Road
Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
USA 19026
What If God Was One
of Us?
Get
Ready Now For Christmas
'Twas
The Beginning of Advent
How the Great
Guest Came
10 Tips for
Simpler Christmas
The Christmas
Pledge
The Joy of
Responsible Gift-Giving
The
Magic's In You
More
Meaning with Less Money
Shop
Right: Presents that make a difference
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Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas
1. Plan ahead. Instead of going on auto-pilot the day after Thanksgiving, hold a family meeting to decide what the group really wants to do and who’s going to do what.
2. If you need a symbol for giving (in addition to Jesus and the Magi), learn about St. Nicholas. Santa Claus has been completely taken over by commerce.
3. Avoid debt. Refuse to be pressured by advertising to overspend.
4. Avoid stress. Give to yourself. Don’t assume that things have to be the same way they've always been.
5. Draw names rather than everyone giving something to everyone else in your giving circle. Set a ceiling for each recipient. Give children ONE thing they really want, rather than so many gifts. If need be, pool funds.
6. Give appropriate gifts. Get to know the recipient. Give what they want to receive, not what you want to buy.
7. Give alternative gifts. Give 25% of what you spent last year to the needy… individuals or groups locally, nationally or internationally.
Practice Fair Trade. Buy crafts and clothing from developing countries at
alternative gift markets, not from commercial importers, so that artisans receive more for their work.
Give of yourself, not just “stuff” – a coupon book for future services (such as baby-sitting or an “enchanted evening”);
something baked, sewn, handmade, composed, etc.;
or a family service project, such as working together at a soup kitchen.
8. Celebrate Advent for four weeks before Christmas. Use the booklet “Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?” or some other
appropriate guide.
9. Put the gifts under the tree shortly before opening them. Then take turns opening them around the tree, not all at once, so that each gift can be admired and each giver thanked. Read to each other, tell stories, play “The Christmas
Game,” leave the TV off.
10. Make changes slowly but persistently. Don’t try to change everything and everybody all at once. The resistance will
make you feel defeated and lonely.
Post on the Refrigerator & Bulletin Boards. Share with Friends & Relatives. Copy in
Newsletters.
For more help and a free catalog of ideas, call Alternatives for Simple
Living, 800-821-6153.
©1997 Alternatives for Simple Living. Used by permission. |
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Unplug
the Christmas Machine: A Complete Guide to Putting Love & Joy Back
Into the Season by Jo Robinson & Jean Coppock Staeheli
[One of the most comprehensive guides to managing Christmas stress and combating commercialism]
A
Leader's Guide to Unplug the Christmas Machine
Hundred
Dollar Holiday: The Case for A Joyful Christmas
By Bill McKibbes
Simplify
Your Christmas: 100 Ways to Reduce the Stress and Recapture the Joy of the
Holidays
by Elaine St. James
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