Since it is the Christmas season, I want to offer some Christmas cheer. Here’s what I decided to do:

GIVE AWAY a Copy of Christmas & Advent Celebrations in 24 hours.

Don’t fret if you already bought your copy. I will refund your money if you win the package.

To win the copy of Christmas & Advent Celebrations for the Holidays Package, post a comment on my blog that tells me one
family tradition you have at Christmas time.

It’s pretty simple…
On Friday at noon (pacific time) I will draw a winner from everyone who entered the contest.

I will send all the downloads to the winner and announce it on my blog this Friday.

Don’t wait any further…

Post a comment on my blog about one of your favorite family traditions.

Blessings,
Kerry

Free Advent Activities

I’ve been receiving some comments about my new package, Christmas & Advent Celebrations for the Holidays Package that I had to share with you.

Kerry your wonderful Advent package is $27 for that incredible wealth of resources (Robin)

Thank you again.  I sent the money this morning.  I’m not sure how long it will take to clear.  I really appreciate you providing all of these items for such a low amount of money.  We don’t have any Christmas traditions YET!  …I am like a sponge trying to suck it all in so I can give the best to my children(Get them spirituall grounded).  (Teresa)
Thank-you for the great price on the advent package! (Karina)

Thank, Cindy and Kerry! This has been a wonderful time together! (C) (from our Advent discusssion)

TY Kerry!!! (((hugs))) (Donna)

Thanks Kerry, look forward to reading the ebooks I ordered. God bless your efforts (Christa)

Don’t miss this package before the price increase next Monday. Christmas & Advent Celebrations for the Holidays Package

Blessings,
Kerry

ps.  Comments about Cindy are referring to Cindy Rushton.  She helped me launch the Christmas & Advent Celebrations for the Holidays Package earlier this week!

Christmas & Advent Celebrations for the Holidays is officially
launched! YEA!!!

I finally had time to catch my breath this afternoon.

Just a couple of things…I want to give you the direct link to
the letter describing the entire package:
http://www.curriculumconnection.net/christmascelebration.htm

Some of you may still be looking for the package on the sign-up for Advent page.

After a flurry of emails, we realized this morning that our server was down. I am so sorry that happened and I hope we have the problems solved.  You should be able to access the download page now!
Thanks for being patient with us!

Finally, be sure you notice that the price for the entire package increases next Monday, December 4th.

AND…watch your email for a few more surprises from me!

Here’s the link one more time:
http://www.curriculumconnection.net/christmascelebration.htm

Blessings,
Kerry

I really want to hear what you thought of the Special Report: Over the Top & Politically Incorrect Christmas Stories. Please leave a comment on my blog:
Kerry Beck’s Blog

You are probably saying to yourself that I have lost my mind if I think I can have a Stress-Free Christmas. Well, my mind is still here and we have had several Stress-Free Christmases in the past few years. I thought I would share some of the lessons I have learned to help reduce the stress during our holiday seasons.

READ GOD’S WORD EVERY MORNING

Starting my day with God’s Word seems obvious, but sometimes gets left out. I need to hear from God & speak to God each day so I am strengthened and ready to be the mom He wants me to be. At breakfast, we have family devotions and can start our kids’ day on the right foot as well. Each of the kids know they are to read their Bible when they wake up. Of course, some need a little more reminding than others.

DON’T DO EVERY ACTIVITY THAT COMES ALONG

This seems quite apparent, but it took me about 10 years to learn this lesson. Actually, my wonderful husband helped me learn how to reduce the activity in our lives during the holiday season.

In the past, I wanted our kids to experience everything available during this season. What was actually happening was I began to harbor stress that would usually explode around Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. (I’m sure none of you have ever experienced this)

WHICH ACTIVITIES DO I CHOOSE

What works for our family is to choose 1 or 2 Christmas activities to attend outside our home. Anything else we do is done in our home. One of the best ways this reduces stress is that I am not “persuading” my husband to attend one more Christmas activity each week. He still spends all day working to provide for our family. Consequently, he is much happier going to a few activities and enjoying our family & friends at home.

We enjoy having others in our home, so we capitalize on this. Our children help us clean & cook, so our work is reduced and I am not stressed when our guests arrive.

ENJOY YOUR HOME

I will always have more activities for us to do than we have time for. This past Thanksgiving weekend I decided which activities will wait until next year.

REMEMBER…you can’t do every thing, every year.

I try to choose activities that encourage my children to think of others, instead of themselves during the holidays. One of the activities we used to do is raising money for a missionary family. My children would take orders for small loaves of pumpkin bread and chocolate chip cookies. After baking and delivering the goodies, they would pay me back for the supplies. The rest was their profit which was used to buy games and toys for a missionary family friend.

This year we hope to have some kids over to bake cookies so their moms can do some Christmas shopping alone. We would like to host a Christmas card stamping party. I’m still brainstorming how that will work.

I have some other ideas that are included in Celebrate Advent, Christmas & Epiphany at:
http://www.curriculumconnection.net/christmascelebration.htm

MAKE CHRISTMAS YOUR SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Drop some of your formal academics and enjoy the season. There are plenty of math, writing & reading concepts we practice as we bake, shop and prepare for Christ’s birthday.

At our house, we still read aloud each morning and then work on a Christmas project. This may include handwork type crafts or other quiet projects.

DO YOU FEEL STRESSED DURING THE HOLIDAYS?

Take a moment right now and prioritize all the activities available to your family. Choose only 1 or 2 activities that the entire family can enjoy and pass on the rest.

Enjoy your family being at home. Have another family over to roast marshmallows and enjoy the fellowship. Most of all, keep your eyes focused on Jesus Christ. Without His love for the world, you would not be celebrating the true reason for Christmas.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

Blessings,
Kerry Beck

ps. If you want to receive more ideas about celebrating Advent & Christmas or our “Over the Top & Politically Incorrect Christmas Stories”, go to this website: Free Advent Activities

Before I get to my weekly article about a Stress-Free Christmas, I need to apologize about the email I sent yesterday. It was intended to go only to those who signed up for my Advent Countdown and my Special Report about Over the Top Christmas Stories.

I didn’t mean to send a notice about our Christmas & Advent Celebrations Package until today. I don’t want to fill your email box with notices you didn’t ask for. Since you are on our regular newsletter list, I made a huge mistake.

I am so sorry!

One more thing to note. . .

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Things have been moving pretty fast the past few days with our
Christmas & Advent Celebration For the Holidays Package. It’s all
I can do to keep up with the merchant account and website, much
less the orders! I just want to give you a quick update:

First off,
I have been quite concerned with the way America is taking Christ
out of Christmas. Yesterday, my wonderful husband, found some
real life stories demonstrating the political correctness of our
new “holiday”, as well as the way to celebrate Christmas the
politically incorrect way.

I compiled all the stories into a Special Report, called “Over
the Top and Politically Incorrect Christmas Stories”. You can
get your copy at:
Over the Top & Politically Incorrect Christmas Stories
Have you heard about our Advent Countdown? It’s a daily idea to
help you celebrate Advent. We’ve had a overwhelming response to
the FREE Advent Countdown. Get a copy for yourself at:
Free Advent Activities
Then tell your friends & family to get a copy of their own.

Next, I want to address a few your concerns.

—————————
QUESTION: Can you give us any more details about your book
regarding the Star of Bethlehem?

SHORT ANSWER: Star of Bethlehem gives you Bible passages to read
as a family and discuss. As you work through the study, you will
discover more about astronomy and what the Star of Bethlehem
truly is.

————————–
QUESTION: How much will a package with 10 or 11 books cost?

SHORT ANSWER: I can guarantee the price will be less than half
the retail cost. In fact, I’m thinking more in the one-fourth or
one-third range.

—————————
CONCERN: The Advent Countdown is a great idea, but it seems to
always have a product connected to it.

SHORT ANSWER: The Advent Countdown does give many free ideas, but
selling books is the way we pay our bills and put food on the
table. So, yes, there is a product related to the Advent
Countdown because this is the way God provides for our family.
—————————-

Of course, the “short answers” above are just that - short
answers. I will be filling you in on all of these
questions/concerns throughout the week.

Finally, I uploaded the entire course to a website, ready for you
to claim your own copy. When you get to this webpage, don’t
forget to sign up for your Free Special Report and Free Advent
Countdown.

Blessings,
Kerry Beck

Free Advent Activities

Are you sick & tired of Christ being taken out of Christmas?  If so, you need to read my new report, Over the Top & Politically Incorrect Christmas Stories.

You can get your own copy of the Free Report at:  Over the Top & Politically Incorrect Christmas Stories

Kerry

A couple of weeks ago I asked for help - I had a few questions as I finalized our new Christmas & Advent Celebrations for the Holidays Package. Your response was overwhelming - we had HUNDREDS of responses, and they helped us refine the package so it covers EXACTLY what our readers need to know about celebrating Christmas and Advent with meaning.

We are now getting very close to our release date - it should fall somewhere between November 24th and November 29th, depending on a few last minute details.
In the coming days we will be updating you with all the “behind the scenes” details, but here is a quick overview…

I started working on this back in 2002, and really started working on it in earnest in 2004. Back then, I was working on a Bible study for my children to better understand the Star of Bethlehem. After I finished the Star of Bethlehem Study, I started learning more about Advent and Christmas traditions and their Christian origin.

It took a very long time, but we now have a full blown package Christmas & Advent Celebrations for the Holidays Package, including two family guides, one gift guide, two meal preparation books, and five holiday recipe books. The package will cover what I use to add meaning to our celebration and anticipation of Christmas.

In short, this is a complete unloading of what I know about adding meaning to Christmas & Advent celebrations. And you will be able to get it in just a week or two.
In the next few days, I will be settting up a site to keep you updated on my progress with the Christmas & Advent Celebrations for the Holidays Package. So please stay tuned.

In the meantime, I want to share some celebration ideas with you right now. Click here to get your free copy of my Advent Countdown.

Free Advent Ideas

A couple of weeks ago our family watched the movie, Apollo 13
(edited by Dad a few times). Afterwards we were enthralled about space
travel and moon exploration. I decided to take advantage of everyone’s
interest in space. The past few weeks I desired to implement
Raising Leaders, Not Followers more into our homeschool. This seemed
like the perfect opportunity. So,Sunday night I pulled all our books on
the moon, planets, stars, space exploration and NASA. On Monday
morning I had them on the floor when we began our time together.
We start every day together, reading the Bible, poetry, history and our
read-aloud book. I told the kids they could look through the books
while I read aloud that morning.
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