Skip to content
Facebook Instagram YouTube Email

Log in.

Scholé Sisters
  • About
  • Podcast
  • Contact
  • Shop
Join Sistershp
Scholé Sisters
Podcast Episodes

SS #116 – Feasting in a time of fasting

At Schole Sisters, we want to remind ourselves and our listeners that we shouldn’t be the White Witch in our homes – making it always winter, but never Christmas. Christmas is worth the effort of celebration.

But what about when times are tight? Gas is high, inflation is high, and most of us are feeling the pinch. Does this mean Christmas is off the table?

Listen to the podcast:

TUNE IN:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Keyword Intro

  • [2:33-20:00] Scholé Every Day segment
  • [23:38] Why we celebrate Christmas in the first place
  • [29:05] Responding to poverty
  • [45:14] Christmas with or without presents?

Today’s Hosts and Source

Brandy Vencel
makes homemade Christmas ornaments every year with her kids.

Mystie Winckler
carries on her family’s tradition of presents under the tree appearing overnight Christmas morning.

Abby Wahl
takes live lambs to the church Christmas pageant where her kids sing and act.

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents.”

Little Women

Scholé Every Day: What We’re Reading

Peak Mind
How to Cook a Wolf
For the Family’s Sake: The Value of Home in Everyone’s Life
Law & Liberty

For the Family’s Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macauley

Brandy is reading the companion book to Macauley’s For the Children’s Sake for the first time.

Peak Mind, Amishi Jha

Abby is reading this airport bookstore find and enjoying the productivity and attention hacks presented.

Law & Liberty, Rushdoony

Mystie is reading this because her husband read it for a men’s book club; it’s her first Rushdoony title, although many books she’s read in the past two decades have cited him.

What are we celebrating?

Before we begin talking about Christmas and how to celebrate it, we have to remember that we are celebrating the incarnation. The incarnation of Christ is about Christ coming as God in the flesh, interrupting people’s lives, and messing up people’s plans and expectations. Christ gave Himself to us, and so at Christmas it is appropriate to imitate him in giving generously and practicing receiving gifts gratefully.

Responding to poverty

The first thing we see in Little Women is the girls’ poor responses to poverty. They complain and grumble and compare their current circumstances to their past abundance and to their neighbors. Comparison is the thief of joy.

Marmee herself, in suggesting they do no presents at all, inadvertently opens the door to the girls – who would be happy to purchase presents for others – to consider using their money for themselves instead.

But the point of Christmas is not getting new things. The point of Christmas presents is practicing generosity in gratitude for the generous grace we have received in Christ.

Generosity in lean times

It’s still possible to be generous even when you have little yourself, as the March family shows when they take their meager breakfast to a family with less than they have.

Celebrating in lean times

Celebrating is about much more than getting and giving cool presents. There’s the food, there’s the decorating, there’s the singing – all of which can be joy-filled and abundant without spending much money.

Mentioned in the Episode

Little Women
  • Why Mystie isn’t keen on Louisa May Alcott & why Brandy said she was raised in a cult

Listen to related episodes:

SS #150: ‘Tis the Season of Joyful Sacrifice

This year’s Christmas episode invites us to reflect on one of our favorite Christmas picture books: The Year of the…
Read More SS #150: ‘Tis the Season of Joyful Sacrifice

SS #133 – Mom Is the Magic of Christmas

Christmas is a lot of work. That’s true. But isn’t it good work? Isn’t it work we can enjoy? Yes,…
Read More SS #133 – Mom Is the Magic of Christmas

SS #99: The Ordinary Homeschool

This year’s Christmas episode is a little less Christmassy, perhaps. Instead of focusing on festivity as we have in years…
Read More SS #99: The Ordinary Homeschool

SS #82 – You Can’t Cancel Christmas

The death of culture and festivity is not a less important death than bodily. No matter what government officials say,…
Read More SS #82 – You Can’t Cancel Christmas

Want to talk about the ideas presented here? The conversation is happening inside Sistership.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/scholesisters/Whole_Ep116_FINAL.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Post Tags: #Christmas#Laughter#Scholé

Post navigation

Previous Previous
SS #115 – Indoctrinate Me
NextContinue
SS #117 – Education is always religious
Search

Cultivating thinking moms

We believe in the revitalization of dialectic, the ordering of the affections, and in-person community. We believe reading widely, thinking deeply, and applying faithfully is the kind of self-education every woman needs. Society will be recivilized by educated, confident, fruitful Christian women.

Be the first to know when the next podcast is live!

Subscribe to our podcast!

Apple PodcastsAndroidby EmailRSS

Disclosure

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Conversations Galore

Affections Anthropology Apply Faithfully Aristotle Authority Boys C.S. Lewis Charlotte Mason Christmas Classical Classics Community Curriculum Definitions Dialectic Dorothy Sayers Educational Metaphors Habit High School Homeschooling Humility Karen Glass Latin Laughter Liberal Arts Love Motherhood Motivation Multiculturalism Ordo Amoris Parenting Philosophy Plato Podcast Pre-Reading Reading Retreat Rewards Scholé Self-Education Socratic Discussion teaching Thinking Virtue Wonder

© 2025 Scholé Sisters · Scribe theme by Restored 316

  • About
  • Podcast
  • Contact
  • Shop
Search