2019 Home for the Holidays

2019 Home for the Holidays LINCOLN DAILY NEWS November 27, 2019 Page 17 A mong all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, practicing random acts of kindness to strangers can bless both the giver and receiver. In the article, “Use Random Acts of Kindness to Improve Your Holidays,” Patricia Davis says, “During the holidays we’re more likely to reach out to one another in service and love. At least, that’s what we’re told we should do.” Though Christmas can be stressful, Davis says, “small acts of kindness are easy to do” and may “brighten the lives of everyone around you in small ways and help you get in the holiday spirit.” There are many simple ways to show kindness during this season. Lincoln resident Elizabeth Wrage’s recently self-published book Christmas Kindness for Kids is about practicing kindness at the holidays. Wrage said she wrote it four years ago for her daughters Ellie and Olivia after looking for advent books. Wrage was drawn to Elf on the Shelf and was looking for something every day. She also had seen some nativity pieces where you collect different pieces of the nativity, but she did not feel it would engage the kids. There were also basic countdowns to Christmas where the children could open a door and get candy. Even though there were a lot of options, Wrage could not find exactly what she wanted. She wanted something fun that involved looking for something, but had a purpose. Wrage had seen kindness calendars online, but few incorporated the message of Christmas and celebrating Christ’s birth. So, she decided to write her own book. She wanted her book to incorporate choosing to do kind things to show God’s love to others. Initially, Wrage did a photo shoot with dolls and printed the photos and a rhyming story for her kids. When friends encouraged her to publish the book, Wrage self-published it because it was quick, and she could order small quantities. A Facebook group helped her with writing and marketing the book. The premise of Wrage’s story is two children who are excited about Christmas and the Continued u Creating holiday atmosphere: Gifts of kindness to strangers