Hope Spot 43 – No bones about it

I don’t like skeletons.

They’re bad enough when they’re dead …

… but when you’re walking with your two-year-old granddaughter through the cheapie department store

… and a row of skeletons start their teeth chattering as they make creepy noises at you

… it’s no wonder I jumped out of my skin.

(Which, I guess, is how skeletons become skeletons.)

Yes, I know the skeletons are plastic.

And yes, I know Halloween makes retailers a lot of money.

But do we really need this mass-produced throwaway values-wrecking junk in our lives? And in our children’s lives?

While my granddaughter started off scared of the skeletons, soon she was fascinated.

And that’s what worries me.

Children are assaulted on every side by stuff that drags them away from the values of kindness, caring, putting others first.

Meanwhile, the children you help through ALWS
in places like Burundi, Somalia and South Sudan
are forgotten by the rest of the world.

That’s why your ALWS Gifts of Grace catalogue this year comes with a FREE children’s book, Nathan and the Fluffy Fertiliser Factory.

Nathan and his bunnies give you the chance this Christmas to sit down with the children in your life …

[✓] grandchildren

[✓] children

[✓]  great grandchildren

[✓] family friends / neighbours

[✓] Sunday School

[✓] Messy Church / Mainly Music

…  and talk about things that really matter.

Like the reasons you help people through ALWS.

What we can do together to make people’s lives better.

The values that lead us to try to love our neighbours as ourselves
(so often lost in the clutter of Christmas).

You can order as many copies of Nathan and the Fluffy Fertiliser Factory as you need. Simply reply to this email or call ALWS on 1300 763 407.

Then, sit down and read together.

Look at the Gifts of Grace in Nathan’s book, and then buy them to give to others.

You might like to download the Bunny Box so children can save coins to give their own Gifts of Grace…

You can also print off a poster …

 … and use cutouts to make Nathan’s village from Gifts of Grace:

And, of course, every Gifts of Grace comes with a Grace Card with a bauble to hang on the Christmas Tree as a reminder of kindness …

… along with individual Grace Sheets that explain more about how Gifts of Grace help people.

Do all this, and you may be blessed to receive a card like I did from one of our other granddaughters, who lives interstate:

(PoPo is me; Gah is my wife Julie.)

Though I do have to say …

… while the drawing is a very good likeness of me

… I think I may be scarier than any skeleton!

So, today, I make no bones about it (groan – sorry), let’s have more beautiful bunnies and less silly skeletons!

Thank you for caring for children this Christmas – for those close to home, and those far away. Your kindness and love make you a blessing ALWayS!