Elf on our Shelf..

It seems that The Elf on a Shelf phenomenon has taken off the past few years. Every morning for about a month the first task for a child is to discover where their elf has hidden that night. It's fun to check facebook and see the creative ideas that people come up with to entertain their kids. And for the most part the kids understand and believe that their elf reports back to the North pole every night to tell Santa who was naughty and nice. Every time I see one of those elves, I think to myself what a clever idea to make kids act right during the Christmas season.

As we sit and understand the greatest gift of Christmas is the birth of Jesus, maybe we should think about God as our Elf on a Shelf each day of our lives. From a distance, He watches over us day and night. Just as you can't touch the elf on a shelf or they will lose their magic powers, we can't touch God, however we know He is there every moment of our life.

Each day I believe God puts an elf on our shelf in some way. It may be a player we coach, it may be patient, it may be a phone call from a friend, it may be a client, it may be someone in line front of us at the busy department store, it may be a teacher, it may be a waitress, it may be a nurse, it may be a mailman or the list could go on and on. At the end of each day is our elf proud of us? Were we naughty or nice to the people we encountered that day? Regardless, God is watching our every move. Are we being imitators of Him and living a life of love?

So as Christmas is upon us, don't just celebrate love and cheer during this time of year. We should practice it all year round. God has given us all the greatest gift we could ever receive in the birth of Jesus. So when you sit down from all the hustle and bustle tonight, be grateful and thankful for the time with family and friends that you get to enjoy. And say a little prayer for those less fortunate than ourselves. We often want to complain of long lines, last minute runs for presents and groceries and having to clean the house for guests. Don't complain, say thank you and remember just like your kids' elf on a shelf watches their every move, God is watching our every move. And just as your kids don't want to disappoint Santa, We shouldn't want to disappoint God. Think about it...makes sense doesn't it?

Merry Christmas to all of you!