On Thanksgiving morning, the children came running out of their rooms searching the house, desperately hoping to spot our holiday elf friend, Fred. A thousand questions ensued like:
"When does the elf come?" "Doesn't he come today?"
"Mom, have you seen the elf?"
"Where could he be?" "Where has he hidden before?"
"Jacob, did you look here?"
"Bree, did you look there?"
And on and on and on....
Then, larger than life, the Elf on the Shelf appears on the TV screen.
In all my brilliantness I said,
"HEY! Maybe all the elves are inside that balloon! And then it'll explode releasing them all to come to our houses!!"
Jacob would not take his eyes from that screen, not even after the elf balloon had moved along. In a very serious but with a hint of excitement tone he asked,
"When is it going to explode?!?"
Oh Jacob.... I am a broken record when it comes to things like 'Put your shoes in the closet', 'Clean your room', 'Use your manners', 'Eat your vegetables', 'No! For the millionth time! You cannot have candy for breakfast' all because you don't "hear" me. But the mention of an exploding elf? You have ears like a bat.
As a parent, you know the struggle is real. And as a parent, you can only hope that the virtues of life and the true meaning of the holidays like Christmas are really being heard and tucked deep into their hearts. And even though you want to smack your head against the wall because your children cannot answer the simple question of "What did you do in school today?", your heart will burst when you overhear your children telling their friends about the coolest thing they learned in church this week. Having faith in God is also having faith in yourself that your doing something right. And you are, we all are.
#Advent2016 #ilovemyshepherd #graftedheart
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