Mixed Blessings: She's Here!

We were awakened early this morning by our excited five year old, who woke to find the living room, piled high with Christmas boxes, the kitchen table set for a Christmas breakfast, a Christmas mail box, and... a wrapped box with her name on it.

Elfia has a arrived, complete with a cozy Santa hat she uses as a bed. With her came a letter from Santa to remind us why she's here. Last year I wrote the letter myself. This year I found a letter I loved online from another family determined to make Christmas more about the presents and Santa, and adapted their letter (you can read it here: here) to fit us. Daddy read about the true meaning of Christmas, and Santa's hope that Elfia would report back to him on how we were doing following the rules:

Love each other.

Speak nicely to one another.

Help each other

Help your friends and neighbours too.

Give to people who don’t have all the stuff you have.

Remember that God loves you so, so much.

We then went over the rules (do not touch Elfia, she is here to observe; obey the rules, because Elfia will report back to Santa each night to let him know how we are doing; in the morning you must find Elfia... who knows what mischief she'll be into; and in the morning you must find the letter Elfia will bring from Santa).

And with that, we picked a place for Elfia's bed, tucked her in, and got busy with the Christmas decorations and the yummy breakfast Elfia had brought.

We look forward to our daily adventures with Elfia this year. But more so we are excited to read the letter she will be bringing back with her from Santa. Last year's letters were full of great suggestions for how we could celebrate the season that day. Some were silly/fun, like going to see lights, or making a gingerbread house. Other days the suggestions from Santa were "others focused" with random acts of kindness to do. This is how we'll be incorporating Kids of Integrity's lesson on "Generosity" this year. Stay tuned for more, as we count day to Christmas.