A Special Treat

As Christmas is approaching and everyone is getting ready with presents, holiday decorations, baking and all the fun stuff that goes with Christmas.  I feel like sometimes the real meaning gets pushed to the side.  Last year the kids received a wonderful gift from their Aunt Allison.  They received an Elf on the Shelf.  Now if you have not heard of this before it is a little magical elf that comes and sits and watches you throughout the day.  Once everyone is in bed at night the elf flies back to the North Pole and reports for the Naughty or Nice List.  I thought this was a wonderful tradition that I wanted to keep doing with my kids.  Until I found this awesome idea on Pinterest on how to incorporate Santa & Jesus together.  The blog was called A Small Snippet.  Here is a small portion of what this mom had to write and I fell in love with her knowledge, her imagination and the love she shows for her children.

let me pause a minute to talk a little Santa with y’all.

here’s my take (for what its worth!)

i {big fat heart} Santa…a whole heck of a lot!!! we totally believe in him around here, and we enjoy the excitement and celebration that He brings.

i know there are differing thoughts on the proper way to deal with Santa and kids. i understand and truly respect those who choose to do it differently than we do…i really do! but we’ve chosen to enjoy his presence in our house, because, frankly, i don’t want my kids to grow up without the excitement of wondering, hoping, and joyfully awaiting his arrival. i have very vivid memories of being absolutely SURE that i heard sleigh bells as we were leaving church on Christmas Eve, Rudolph’s hooves landing on my roof, and i can’t tell you the wonder it brought my brothers and i to see that Santa had eaten the cookies we had left out for him. there’s nothing quite like that feeling, and i want my kids to enjoy that feeling FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!! if my kids come to me and ask me if there is a Santa, my answer will be yes, because the way i see it, there is. and i mean…someone’s gotta be leaving those presents under the tree…don’t they? so if your kids believe otherwise, i think that’s perfectly fine….but will you please tell them to not talk about it with mine??

in my opinion (which i realize isn’t worth much, but i’ll give it to you anyway!) enjoying Santa with our kids is not lying to them or creating scars for them not to trust us. its instead choosing to give them the opportunity to be kids, to wonder, hope, imagine, dream, play. this world doesn’t offer too many opportunities like that anymore, for kids to just simply be kids, innocent and playful and imaginative. i’m committed to giving them a childhood, even in this world that makes them grow up way too fast, and i personally believe Santa is one (of many) ways of doing that. so there…that’s my take

we believe that Santa has the capability to deeply add to the meaning of this season. one thing that Santa has over the years done for our family is remind us of the most wonderful gift that we are celebrating. In all his communication with our family, he always tells us that his gifts are twofold…

1) they are to show us that Jesus is sharing with us the joy of His birthday celebration, His coming to earth, God with us. Jesus bestows gifts on us because of His great love for us, personally.

2) they are a reminder that the best gift we have ever or will ever receive is the gift of a Rescuer.

So after reading this part I immediately went to her letter she wrote for her children.  I have to admit I am not this imaginative.  But I did take to the idea and here is what I came up with for the kids letter (with this ladies help) that they will receive instead of reading the traditional book that comes with the Elf. 

Dear Ellaree, Lorelai & Harry ~

Well, well, well…three of my favorite little children!

First off, I have to tell you that I think you are all very special.  I know that you are filled with love for each other, your parents, but most importantly, you are filled with love for Jesus, and I know that He lives in your hearts.  He lives in mine too, so that makes us all especially special!

 

I had to let you know something important.  You know that whole naughty & nice list that you hear everyone talking about?  Well…truth is, it is not completely true.  I do have a naughty & nice list but what is more important is GRACE and LOVE.  Because I know Jesus, I also know a lot about grace and getting what we don’t deserve.  I know you know all about that!  Like when you make the wrong choices and when you choose to sin, Jesus gives you grace and loves you still!  And sometimes I know that your parents even give you grace too…like when you deserve to be disciplined, but they give you another chance!

 

I know that kids are not perfect.  I know that you guys are not perfect.  But I know that Jesus loves you all the time, and I do too.  So you don’t need to worry about being on my naughty or nice list.  If you believe that I will come to your house on Christmas Eve and leave you something special, then I will come!  That’s all you need…is to believe!

 

To help you remember about grace and about getting love even when you don’t deserve it, I wanted to send you a very special treat for this Christmas season.  Since it is the first day of December, the month that we celebrate Jesus coming to earth to be our rescuer, I thought you might enjoy a little visit from a very special friend of mine.

 

This is Bella the Elf…

 

She is a dear friend of mine, but she tends to be a bit naughty.  I have explained grace to her many many times, when she chooses to sin and be a little stinker.  I have told her that that is why Jesus had to come…to rescue her, because she has sin in her heart.  She is beginning to learn, but I thought that if she stayed with you for the Christmas season, then you might be able to teach her some more about the way Jesus loves us even when we sin.  I know that you three are learning that you get to obey and love God because He first loves you so very much.  I love Bella so much and I want her to understand and believe Jesus and know that her heart can make good choices too because Jesus loves her so very much!

 

A couple of important things about Bella…she is an Elf, and elves are not exactly the same as humans.  You cannot touch Bella for her magic from me will go away.  Bella stays still all during the day, but she comes alive at night.  While she is sitting very still, she is listening and watching you.  The gleam you see in her eyes and her bright smile shows you she is listening. Through these actions you are teaching Bella the importance of grace and love.  Once you go to sleep, Bella’s magic helps her to fly back to the North Pole and gives me a report.  When Bella returns back to your home, everyone is still sleeping.  This is usually when she can get into some trouble, so you’ll have to watch her very carefully.

 

When I told Bella that she was going to go stay with you guys, she jumped up and down in excitement!  She really thinks you guys are so much fun!

 

Have fun!  I’ll be back to pick up Bella on Christmas Eve when I come to drop off a special gift for each of you! 

 

I love you each so very much!

 

Santa

 

I am hoping to post pictures throughout the season of the kids and Bella.  I hope that this tradition continues throughout every year.