Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 25

We made it to another Christmas. I'm rather sad to see this one come. It seemed to have happened way too fast this year and I am just not ready to let it go. 

To me, Christmas is about the birth of a child. It's meant to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, I know that he probably was born during the summer. Yes, I also know that various churches adapted secular holidays and traditions to fit with the narrative of the nativity. But it doesn't stop me from believing. 

For my final charity spotlight, I am going local, and possibly a bit controversial. Pregnancy Support Services (PSS) in the Chapel Hill/Durham area offers free, confidential support including pregnancy testing, limited ultrasounds, and material assistance like baby supplies, alongside parenting education and emotional support for those facing unplanned pregnancies. They provide a safe, judgment-free environment with medical and emotional support, and connect clients with local resources for housing, food, and employment. PSS is a Christian nonprofit that also offers post-abortion care and services for men. 

They do a special fundraiser called a Baby Bottle Blessings. In it, supporters raise money by filling a baby bottle with loose change. My family have supported this cause for many years. Even before I met my wife and this is our 27th Christmas together. 

PSS has been around since 1982. A group of believing doctors and nurses felt that there was a need for an alternative to Planned Parenthood and that no woman should have to face pregnancy alone and without support. I've never felt that they condemn their potential patients. Instead, they offer struggling mothers-to-be and their families hope for bringing in the next generation of children into a fallen world. With Christmas being about the birth of a child, how else best to celebrate this by ending this year's Advent supporting a charity built around the birth of children in a way practiced with care and compassion by that very child who's birth made this holiday at all possible over 2 millennia ago. 

If you have felt led to support PSS, please donate here!

The 18 Days of a Star Wars Christmas Miracle +7: Day 8

It's time to spread a little Christmas cheer with everybody's favorite walking carpet: Chewbacca!

  So tall, so furry, so gosh darn loyal and lovable. It's one reason we named our second son, Chewbacca! (This is no joke, we actually have a HUMAN child named Chewbacca, or Chewie for short.)

  Anyways, the picture of the album you so on the left is a real recording. It's not officially licensed, but somebody took all of the noises Chewbacca made in the original trilogy, put them on a synthesizer and put them to music. Much like those Christmas albums that use puppy barks and cat mews to single Jingle Bells- someone had the idea to make Silent Night using Wookiee calls.

 So my gift to you today is a sample of the  fabled recording along with a link to another song that answers the eternal question: What Do You Get a Wookiee For Christmas When He Already Owns a Comb?

Enjoy...