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Concept: Filling the Manger is based on a centuries-old tradition of performing acts of kindness throughout the month of December in order to earn pieces of straw. Each straw is then placed in an empty manger to build a soft bed for the coming of baby Jesus. Concept also known as: Straw for the Manger
The Giving Manger tells the story of a family who shifts the focus of their Christmas. Young Anne and Ben always look forward to Christmas. Each year their dad makes a special wooden toy for them, but he tells them this year will be different. They are starting a new tradition, and there will be more gifts this year, starting December 1. The kids misunderstand, thinking they will be getting more gifts, but instead, the gifts are given by them to others. Initially disappointed, the children quickly change their attitudes when they see the joy that doing kind things and giving to others brings.
“This is a special story to us because it represents the same shift we’ve seen in our own families,” Kalberer shares. “The focus used to be lists and what the kids were going to receive for Christmas, but in adopting The Giving Manger the focus shifted to what we can give. Christmas is different in our homes than it used to be, and we couldn’t be happier about it!”
Once the family reads the story together, it’s time to place the empty manger in a prominent spot in the house. In the days leading up to Christmas, family members place a piece of straw in the manger each time they perform a kind deed or act of service. Filling the manger will become a fun, interactive project for the entire family, prompting even young children to look for ways to love and serve others.
As the family works together to fill the manger with straw, both hearts and home will be filled with the joy and contentment that comes not from wish lists and getting, but from giving and loving others. On Christmas Day, the family will place the baby Jesus in the manger—now full of the straw that represents the acts of love and service done in honor of Jesus’ birth. The Giving Manger
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Suggestions for Random acts of Kindness,and Spreading Kindness Monthly Calendars
Movie Break : The Last Straw
Inspired by a true story and filled with both heart and humor,
"The Last Straw" may forever change the way your family celebrates.
Synopsis: It's Christmas break at the McDonald house, but silent nights and days are nowhere to be found. With the children's constant bickering, pretty packages and a sweet-smelling tree don't come close to filling the McDonald home with the true spirit of the first Christmas. Then Mom remembers an old tradition of building a soft bed for Baby Jesus one straw at a time. Each time someone secretly does something nice for another family member, he or she gets to add a single straw to the manger.
This is a delightful movie with themes of forgiveness and showing deeds of kindness, and Corbin Bernsen makes a great Gramps. During a McDonald family football game, he is invited to play and his competitive side comes out! In another funny scene, he and Landon attempt to bake cookies like Grandma did, and when they leave them at the McDonald family door and run away in their aprons, the laughs are loud.
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Trailer for The Last Straw
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