Merry Christmas from the Krosts

Make a photo collage

Christmas Cards for Shut-Ins

 Image taken from onextrapixel.com.

In my efforts to help children to use technology to better serve others, this week each class will be making Christmas cards for members of St. Paul Parish who are shut-ins, unable to attend Mass regularly because of age or illness.  All students, K-8 will make Christmas cards to give love and encouragement to a lonely and isolated member of the St. Paul community.

Are there any people you or your family know that could use some encouragement or holiday cheer?  Perhaps an elderly neighbor or a service man or woman stationed far away from home?  Send them a card!  Drop by and visit!  Call and sing them a Christmas carol!  As Aesop, the Greek fable author who lived in 620-560 BC, wrote, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

Too Much Time Online?

I came across a great article by Mitch Albom this weekend as I was reading the Detroit Free Press--digitally, of course.  It's about how today's youth are spending a lot of time online, which itself isn't a problem.  The problem is that youth aren't using their online time wisely.  Watching endless hours of YouTube videos isn't helping humanity in any way.  I am mindful of this and take it to heart every time I recite our class prayer, which says, "may we use this technology to better serve others, and you (God)."  So how are you using your online time?

Advent Traditions

It's hard to believe that the season of Advent is already here.  It seems that I was caught a bit unprepared and had to rush to uncover the Christmas decoration boxes from the basement in time to light the Advent wreath on Sunday.  Now that my daughters are a bit older, I think it's time to start a few Advent traditions. So each night of Advent this year, we will light the Advent wreath and follow along in this book, The Christmas Countdown: Creating 25 Days of New Advent Traditions for Families.  I purchased the book on Amazon and downloaded it to the Kindle app on my iPad.  It was quick, easy, and inexpensive.  So far, we've had some interesting dinner table discussions from the prompts given in the book.  And I love that we're repeating old traditions, like lighting the Advent wreath and setting up our nativity set, and creating new ones as a family.