A Story of One Night, An Advent Calendar, and A Different Christmas Tale
One Night Advent Calendar
One Night Advent Calendar
When I opened the Christmas product to review--One Night, an Advent Calendar--I realized it focused on shepherds, an adaptation of the Christmas story found in Luke 2:8-20. The beautiful drawings on the large 16''x 36.5" calendar drew me into the story, but I had to ask myself, What do I know about shepherds and lambs and the care of them? Can I write from any place of experience?
And then I remembered a day when I was a girl....
"Put on a sweatshirt and zip it up," Grandma said. "The barn will be chilly."
I grabbed my gray jacket and pushed my long ponytail into the hood before tying the cord under my chin. I was nine-year's old. Maybe ten. My younger sisters and I were staying with my maternal grandparents at their South Dakota farm while my parents and older brother hiked in Wyoming with the church youth group.
Grandma pulled on a pair of battered galoshes and placed two large feeding bottles into a metal bucket. I followed behind her swishing hemline as she strode to the barn.
The smell of hay hit my senses. And manure.
As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I noticed two young lambs bleating in a separate pen.
Loudly. In stereo.
"You have to hold on tight or they will pull it out of your hands," Grandma instructed as she handed me one of the bottles of milk.
Imitating Grandma, I thrust a bottle through the fence slats. The special rubber nipple was grasped in a hungry mouth and a game of tug-of-war commenced: a hungry lamb versus my inexperienced muscles.
"Careful," Grandma said, re-positioning my hands for a better grip. "Lean your body back to keep your balance."
"What happened to the mothers?" I asked as the lamb sucked the last drop from the bottle.
"One lamb was a twin and the ewe didn't have enough milk. The other was abandoned by the mother. I've cared for it since the first day."
I patted the woolly chin. His wet tongue nuzzled my palm, seeking more food. "Lambs need a lot of care."
Grandma nodded and tied her flowered kerchief tighter under her chin. "Just like all babies." Her hand reached for mine. "You can help me feed them again later."
*******
One Night Advent Calendar
One Night Advent Calendar
One Night Advent Calendar
One Night, An Advent Calendar, a story of two brothers watching their sheep, didn't happen in a barn, but on a hillside outside of Bethlehem. Startled by a sound, the shepherds receive visitors with an unexpected invitation.
Should they accept?
Should they leave behind animals that depended upon them for survival, a question debated in this story, as the sheep in the brothers' care had been attacked again and again by a hungry lion.
Should they leave them? Sheep? Lambs? Maybe lambs they had hand-fed and cared for since birth? With little woolly heads and nuzzling mouths? Was the risk of their livelihood worth accepting the invitation to see a baby in a manger?
The shepherd's story in the calendar unfolds with beautiful artwork as the brothers make their way to Bethlehem to discover a different lamb, the Lamb of God.
And as to the shepherd's lambs in One Night? And the hungry lion? You will have to see what happens at the end of the story.
Keep reading for more of my review and for a link for the product on Kickstarter.
One Night, an Advent Calendaris an adaption of the familiar Christmas story found in the Bible. I felt that users of the calendar would need a basic understanding of that story to best appreciate One Night. Allusions to Jesus' future life and purpose are touched upon in the twenty-four windows that open, one for each day, from December 1 to December 24. This could be seen as a positive or negative, depending on the background of the family using the calendar. I saw it as a positive, with layers of meaning in the story.
Since I promised to give an honest review, the font selection bothered me. I felt it gave a spooky vibe (maybe intentional as suspenseful?), but I couldn't get away from the fact that it reminded me of Tim Burton's, The Nightmare Before Christmas.The artwork, quality, and size (16''x 36.5") of the calendar are impressive. The tri-fold product stands on a table without additional help and would look fantastic surrounded by holiday decor. I believe One Night will be a welcome addition to the Christmas season. I can see it becoming a much-loved tradition.
Note: This is a Kickstarter Project, so read all the info on their page.
Watch a video about One Night and how you can order one and learn more of the vision behind the project.
********
ABOUT LYNNE HARTKEI share stories of courage, beauty, and belonging--belonging to family, to community, and to a loving God. I am author of Under a Desert Sky: Redefining Hope, Beauty, and Faith in the Hardest Places.I teach an online writing workshop: Reclaim Your Scattered Story: A 6-week Online Writing Workshop for Those Touched by Cancer. Each month, I also teach in-person at Ironwood Cancer and Research Center in Chandler, AZ and at Cancer Support Community Arizona in Phoenix. If cancer has touched your life, check out a free printable: Dear Friend Who Was Diagnosed with Cancer, and a tutorial on creating courage flowers, with a download of courage paper.