Review: ‘The Familyman’s Christmas Treasury’

My 5-year-old and 2-year- old have been listening to the audio stories on The Familyman’s Christmas Treasury by Samaritan Ministries member Todd Wilson over and over again since we picked up the set this past summer.

Todd is the creator of Familyman Ministries. Known for his humor and “gut-honest realness,” he has earned a reputation as a favorite speaker at conventions across the country, often telling stories about life in an RV with his wife, Debbie, and their eight children.

In that gut-honest spirit Todd advocates, I’ll confess that I only bought these audio stories because of my wife’s suggestion. Now that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing them played at least a hundred times (my daughter puts them on first thing when she wakes up) I’m glad I did. Seriously, they are well-crafted, theogically sound, and entertaining. My whole family has enjoyed them. So go to familymanweb.com now and buy The Familyman’s Christmas Treasury (with better motives than I had).

I especially value this resource because it’s audio, not video. Perhaps you’ve seen the stories going around the internet about how Silicon Valley execs are now sending their childen to private schools where they aren’t allowed to use computers. This trend is based on overwhelming evidence of the harmful effects of “screen time” on young children’s brain development.

We’ve acquired our share of Christian videos, and I know this much from experience. When I give in and let my kids have screen time, they are inevitably crankier. But listening to audio stories seems to have a positive effect, stimulating their imagination and play. So along with The Familyman’s Christmas Treasury, my family also loves the free dramatized audio Bible for kids, produced by Faith Comes by Hearing. Be sure to choose the one that says “KIDZ” in the title.

There are six stories in the Christmas Treasury. My personal favorite is “Cootie McKay’s Nativity,” in which a misfit saves Christmas in an unexpected way. It strikes me as a realistic portrait of small town life, hilarious and heart wrenching.

In “Captain Chaos and the Manger Blaster,” a boy enters the imaginary world of his action figures. This story also explores how the world would be different if Jesus had not been born, giving us a greater appreciation for the importance of the incarnation.

“The Stranger” is about how a church and community’s appreciation of Christmas is deepened when they encounter a stranger.

“The Bishop’s Dream” is a cautionary tale imagining a bishop whose life was the inspiration for the legends of St. Nicholas. Traveling forward in time, he discovers that holiday traditions have overshadowed the birth of His beloved Savior and caused people to miss the meaning of Christmas.

“Harold Grubbs and the Christmas Vest” is about a father conveying to his son the story of how their whole church has come to cherish a rather outlandish vest.

“Gladys Remembers Christmas” is about how Gladys has grown bitter, and how understanding the message of Christmas can break through our deepest internal struggles.

Familyman Ministries has all of these stories available as instant downloads and book format as well, along with several other Christmas-themed resources that would make great gifts. Todd even created To Bethlehem, a Christmas board game designed to help families to interact, laugh, and act goofy, while learning about Christmas.

Todd’s goal is to create resources full of all kinds of real-life stories, examples, and practical advice for becoming the dad your family needs.

There are plenty of free resources worth checking out as well, if for no other reason than Todd’s gift for making people laugh outloud. There’s a blog, a weekly podcast, and an email list at familymanweb.com.