It’s that time of year again… Soon and very soon in houses across the world, well at least America anyway, children will be waking up to an ornery little Elf that has been caught doing some kind of mischievous act. Oh yes, it’s the only time of year that it is acceptable to teach kids to make flour angels on the kitchen table, or throw their underwear all over the Christmas tree, or toilet paper the living room while hanging from the ceiling fan! I love watching Facebook for all of the crazy things the Elves did to announce their come back and then I just love to hear all of the moms aggravated status’ of how exhausting it is to come up with yet another ridiculous mess for the Bob the Elf to make, heck I can’t even remember what our Elf’s name is year to year! Do you know how many times I fell asleep forgetting to make the Elf move? I would just tell my kids, “Well, I guess today you’ll try harder at being good, won’t you?” God love us all, at least we are trying to create memories for our children, right?!
What exactly are we teaching our children with the Elf On The Shelf? Are we using this money maker to teach life lessons, morals, values that will carry on throughout generations? Or is it just another thing to do to waste our time and money? I don’t know about you, but I am tired of cleaning up unnecessary messes that I made myself for 2 minutes of yelling at my kids in the morning “DON’t TOUCH IT OR IT WILL LOSE IT’S MAGIC!” So I have decided this year, to make our Elf come each morning with a Bible verse and a challenge to be nice or spread joy. If we are going to put the time and effort into this silly tradition, we can at least make it worth our time and effort and use it to plant a seed within our children’s hearts. Let’s teach our children not about the things of this world but about the spirit of our Savior. After all, he is the reason for the season! Welcome to the hood ~ motherhood that is!
I am including a 7 day list of ideas to use for your Elf! I would do more, but to be honest with you, I’m tired and I’m not that organized. I have actually surprised myself with coming up with the first 7 days! Be creative and ask for God’s guidance in how to use your Elf to teach your children! Let us know what you are doing with your Elf this year, we could all use fresh ideas;)
Day 1- John 3:16, the challenge is to go through the toys and find gently used or (in our case) barely touched toys to give to your local shelter.
Day 2- Luke 6:31, the challenge is to be extra nice to someone today, for an older child, invite a new friend to sit with you at lunch.
Day 3- Colossians 3:20, the challenge is to do a chore without being asked, or at least without being asked twice:)
Day 4- 1 Corinthians 13:7, the challenge is for them to draw a picture and send it to their grandparents to show their love for them.
Day 5- Philippians 4:13, the challenge is (with a parents help) conquer a fear they may have or write down their goals for the coming year.
Day 6- Colossians 3:23-24, the challenge is do some kind of job for your neighbor without being paid or pick up trash at your local park.
Day 7-Mark 11-24, the challenge is to write down all your prayer request pray over them and thank God for them.
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