An Advent Sale for You
If you are in America, we just finished the Thanksgiving holiday, which is a great reminder to stay grateful and generous for all our God-given blessings. It is a great precursor to the Advent season, and of course the Feast of the Nativity where we are all gifted with the most generous gift of all.
As we shift gears into this season of shopping, decorating, and peppermint-flavored everything (and good riddance to pumpkin spice everything - amiright?), we all promise every year to stay grateful, generous, and not forget the true reason behind the season.
But here is another thought to keep in mind ... the more we have, the less we rely on God for "our daily bread." When that happens, strange as it may sound, we become less generous and less grateful.
So, this season, rather than the cliche of "remember the Christ in Christmas," let's be more intentional not to be enslaved to our "stuff," not to be forgetful of our abundance of blessings because of our "stuff," and, most importantly, not to lose sight that our "stuff" covers-up rather than provides for what we truly need.
"Sometimes our riches cover up the stench of our sin. … You must not smell of perfumes, but of virtue…the fragrance [merely covers] the stench and filthiness of the inner man.” St. John Chrysostom (On Wealth and Poverty)
Every year, BtO tends to gift its subscribers with a free Christmas Party game or something similar. This year, we thought to open the doors a little wider. Please enjoy $25 off any of our curriculum units, summer camps, and/or retreats. We hope that your youth will benefit from the materials as much as we have writing them.
DISCOUNT CODE: BlessedAdvent2025
Use it at Checkout and enjoy $25 off. Limited one use per subscriber. Discount Code will expire by 12/25/2025, so act quickly!
Blessed Advent from all of us at BtO!
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Most of us know the Nativity story by heart. We know the manger scene, the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, and of course baby Jesus. But there are parts of the Christmas story that are typically not told. They have zero Christmas songs about them, and they are far less popular than the little drummer boy (who, by the way, is completely fictional).
Our Christmas Unit this year is focused on all those stories your teens may not know very well. Check it out HERE.
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This is a special 2-for-1 unit, which includes a month-long curriculum for teens on finding their God given purpose - answering the question, "what makes me, me?" AND also, the bundle includes a parent workshop designed to help parents consider how to approach addressing challenging identity-related topics with their kids. This is a crucial topic for all Orthodox households. Find it HERE.