Freddie The Elf

Last year we received a sweet little gift and it is by far, my favorite fun Christmas tradition.

Every year at Thanksgiving time, Santa sends us Freddie, our sweet Elf on the Shelf. Freddie hides in a different place every morning and every night, Freddie magically flies to see Santa to report what Adeline and Audrey have been doing. He tells Santa if they've been good or bad, hitting or playing nicely, sharing or being "not nice". Freddie hears, sees and knows all. He's very much like a mom, only no one can touch Freddie or his magic will disappear forever.

The girls love to find where Freddie is hiding every morning.  Here are some of my favorite Freddie Locations.

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One of my favorite parts of having Freddie is the pure joy that Adeline &amp; Audrey have on their faces when they find him. Audrey reminds me every morning, "I love him, Mommy. Don't touch him!" And Adeline has really enjoyed being the first to find him almost every morning.

We love our Freddie very much and will be sad to see him go on Christmas Eve. He'll stay with Santa until Thanksgiving time and then he'll come back to keep tabs on the girls.

You can get your own Elf on the Shelf at most book stores or online at Amazon.com. There is also a <a href="http://www.elfontheshelf.com/#/north-pole">website</a> where you can have Santa sign an <a href="http://www.elfontheshelf.com/#/adoption-center">Adoption certification</a> to make your Elf officially yours. Oh! And I just found this out - you can now make your Elf into a little Elfette! Go to the Gift Shop at <a href="https://shop1.elfontheshelf.com/indexnf.php">The Elf On A Shelf's website</a> and click on skirt!

This is one of my favorite traditions that I hope my children will enjoy for years to come! Christmas truly has a new sense of magic now that I have little ones of my own!

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions you had while growing up? What is your favorite thing to do now with your own children or grandchildren?

Merry Christmas!
Jill Perryman

Christmas Carols From A Four Year Old

My husbands sister, Amy, has two little boys, Joseph and Ryan.  They were singing Away In A Manger in the car. 

Joseph was singing “Away in a Manger” and Ryan (age 4) was singing “Away from the danger” and Joseph told Ryan he was singing it wrong.  Ryan quickly told him, no he wasn’t cause Jesus was hiding from the solders!

-Patrice Pugh

An Early Christmas Gift

Partly by choice and partly by necessity, my schedule and the places I go revolve around my children. Their activities determine when I go. Their likes and interests determine where I go. But one day this week was different. A friend from out of town visited and we spent the whole day together while the kids were in school.

We ate at a restaurant I enjoy and went shopping in stores the children would never have the patience to enter. Not a single time did I have to say "stop touching!" Even as we waited and waited for the cell phone store to resolve a technical problem, I realized I was having a fun day. It was nice to be with a peer instead of being the mom in charge and on constant vigil. It was pleasant to talk about life with someone from my generation. And amazingly I began to feel myself relax for the first time in months.

My friend gave me a great early Christmas gift—the gift of time and presence.

-Ellen Beene

Favorite Christmas Ornament

Christmas time is my favorite season of the year.  I get plain ‘ol giddy when it comes time to decorate our home!  There is something about the lights on the Christmas tree and decorations that makes me smile!!  Today I would like to share with you my favorite Christmas Ornament.

It’s not much, a little red glass ball and another smaller peach ball that makes Santa's head.  The white on the hat and Santa's beard has yellowed over the years.  It no longer hangs on the tree, but stands on the table next to our Christmas tree.  This ornament was mine as a child and it brings back special memories.

Memories of sleepless Christmas Eve nights awaiting the excitement of Christmas morning and the surprises that would be under the tree.  Stockings filled with oranges, apples, nuts and other unknown treasure ready to be explored.  Listening to Christmas music being played while we ate a huge Christmas feast.

This past Sunday our Children preformed their Christmas musical and on the screen pictures of children were flashed that accepted Jesus into their hearts this past year.  This Christmas would be their  very first Christmas!  I had never thought of that before.  The excitement that Christmas brings me each year is nothing compared to the excitement of spending your very first Christmas as a Christian and having received the ultimate gift.  Now that is something to be giddy about!!

-Patrice Pugh

Hindsight

At 25 I felt my life was in crisis. Life wasn’t turning out as I expected. I was still single and living at home. Every other woman in my family was married with at least one child at age 25—or younger. I came to realize that if I wasn’t content with who I was on my own, I’d never be able to find contentment in a relationship. I stopped looking for a relationship and grew content with the idea I’d always be single. I moved out on my own and handled everything on my own. A few years later God surprised me with Keith's declaration of love.

Now I can see that God used that “delay” in getting married to teach me the independence that’s helping us survive now. I know how to manage our finances, run the house, buy cars, repair cars, hire service people, etc. When Keith died, my life didn’t fall apart because Keith had knowledge I didn’t have. We worked as a team, and throughout our marriage responsibilities shifted back and forth between us. Whatever needed to be done, either of us could step in to do it. We often joked that between us we made a complete person—meaning together we covered all the bases.

So I’m thankful my years as an independent single woman prepared me for my years as a widowed single parent. What was a crisis at 25 is a blessing at 46.

-Ellen Beene

Words of Comfort

“Go before”, “hold”, “strengthen”.   Those were the words running through my mind as I searched my memory, and then my online search tools for words from His Word to comfort my baby girl.  Many of you have already joined us in praying for our 16 year daughter Hannah.  Following knee surgery last June for a torn meniscus, Hannah has been working to rejoin her basketball team and to run track in the spring.  However, her pain has not subsided as expected.  A MRI last week revealed the reason why - Hannah's knee is not healing, it is deteriorating, rapidly.  Her doctors see no good course of action, thought action must be taken.  We will see a specialist in Chicago on Monday.

Hannah loves to move, to run fast, to jump, work hard and sweat.  It has always been a joy to watch her.  She also is in love with her Savior.  She knows where to take her joys and her frustrations.  She shares those things with her family and friends, but she knows as humans we may fail her, and that her Savior never will.  She is looking for the mercies He is already showing in this trying time, taking note.  She is grieving over the losses but anticipating His works. 

God has knit Hannah together so marvelously, and you, and me.  Hannah’s knee contained a meniscus that is unusually circular and thick, and her femur, where it enters her knee joint, is flattened rather than the usual rounded shape, variations that worked beautifully together until she was injured.  These variations are also what is challenging to her doctors... she needs a meniscal transplant, but she is not a good candidate because of her unusual anatomy.  Those are the facts from our perspective.  The marvelous truth, however, is that Hannah’s Lord God is privy to a COMPLETE perspective, to all of the wisdom, to all of the power, to all of the mercy, and to all of the love needed to deliver Hannah however He chooses.  What a delight to live as a daughter of such a God, with out fear in spite of sadness, with hope in spite of pain. Thank you for joining us in lifting Hannah up to such a God, and to Him be all the glory.     

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear, then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. You will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I... The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:8-11

-Laurie Newman

Certainty=Peace

Four years ago,I began teaching night school at Holloway. There was then, and is not now, any doubt in my mind that my job is God ordained.

Fast forward to tonight. Students were still streaming into the building when I noticed our principal and secretary sprinting across the parking lot, shooing kids inside with obvious urgency. As we watched, the loud speaker came on and we were told that the campus was on a "Code Red" lockdown. Translation-- there is very real danger at hand and we are to take every precaution possible.

We lowered the blinds, locked the hall door, turned off the lights and all crouched behind my desk. The new county policy is to fight anyone who comes in the door, so I handed out all the "weapons" I could find-- a stapler, wood bathroom pass, keys, and some kid's wooden Beowulf project (where was the big metal 3 hole punch when I needed it?). I would be lying if I wrote that I wasn't afraid, but the overwhelming feeling that came to me was that I KNEW I was in the right place-- regardless of what was going to happen.

What a sweet reminder of the snuggly goodness of being smack dab in the middle of the will of God. At that point, I truly didn't know if I would get to shop for prom dresses with my little girls one day or celebrate my 37th birthday in a few weeks, but I did know I was exactly where He planned for me to be this afternoon. I was with those kids for "such a time as this."

God is good-- all the time... even when we are in danger because of where He has placed us.

-Stephanie Morgan