I Have A Huge Confession To Make…

I have a HUGE confession to make. I am 44 years old and I have hated Christmas for most of my life. Yes, you heard that right. For pretty much all of my life, I have not enjoyed the Christmas season and wanted it to pass as quickly as possible.

Why?

Perhaps it started in my childhood. My parents divorced when I was a baby and my mom went on to get married (and divorced) three more times.

Needless to say, that put a lot of strain on the household around the holidays.

Then I was kicked out of the house when I was fifteen.

I became a Christian when I was seventeen, but even then, I never felt comfortable around my family and Christmas seemed to bring up all of the problems we did a pretty good job ignoring throughout the year.

Take a lot of selfish people and force them to be nice to one another once a year and you will usually end up with fireworks!

As I grew older and started a family of my own, Christmas should have been a glorious time, but it wasn’t. I was a remodeling contractor and everyone wanted their project finished BEFORE Christmas (no matter how unrealistic it was).

All of their frustrations were leveled at me for not completing their project before Christmas and why kick the dog, when you a have a handy remodeler nearby?

I began to view Christmas as a serious pain. A pain to be with family, a pain to deal with customers and a realization that I was not seeing Christmas with the right eyes, but had no idea how to change.

Then God began to show me what the problem was…

The problem is that I had not prepared myself for Christmas day. In almost everything else, I took the time to get ready for an activity:

- I had 3 months to get ready for my marriage

- I had 9 months to prepare for my first child

- I usually had several weeks to prepare for a Sunday School lesson

…but I never prepared for Christmas Day! I just ran up on the day and then was surprised when there was a huge emotional let-down after the presents were opened.

That’s when I began to understand why the early church leaders put Advent on the church calendar. To help their congregations get ready for the day…emotionally and spiritually.

I began to see that, just like any important activity, if you arrive unprepared – you are in for a rude awakening.

So now I prepare for Christmas. And I LOVE Christmas. I no longer see it as a huge pain and I am lot more fun to be around during the holidays (so I am told!).

I share all this to tell you about a really cool way to prepare for Christmas called Artful Advent. It is written by one of my students and I could not be more proud!

Michelle Geffken has wonderfully blended preparing for Christmas with developing an appreciation for art. The ebook is one of the most beautiful ebooks I have ever seen and it takes you and your family step by step from the beginning of December up to the day of Christmas…using art as a means to engage the whole family.

A few practical things about the ebook:

- Michelle has provided activities according to ages of your children which are very helpful.

- Michelle also is very adept at getting you to understand what is going on in the artist’s mind and the world-view he is coming from. It
reminds me of Francis Schaeffer’s “How Then Should We Live”.

- She also shows you where to find wonderful resources – things that are overlooked by most people.

This ebook is more of a resource than a “how to”. It will lead you to many more great art books and resources in addition to the lessons and checklists she already has.

One other practical benefit is the ebook itself. I have been teaching my students how to create profitable ebooks for some time. So, if you want to see what a GREAT ebook looks like, you need to check this one out.

And it’s not even about making money!

So, visit the link below and prepare yourself and your family for a glorious and meaningful Christmas. Don’t wait almost 40 years like I did!

http://familyebiz.com/artfuladvent

Blessings,

Stephen Beck

PS…If you purchase the ebook through the link above and send me your receipt, I will send you a link to download the recording of the sermon I am preaching on Dec 16 about “How To Prepare For Christmas”.

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© Stephen Beck, 2007
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Stephen Beck teaches families & teens how to start home business . For a free CD discussing the steps for a successful internet business, visit Christian Home Based Business right now.