I recently came across THIS SITE on pinterest. This mom modified her Elf on a Shelf to be more in touch with the religiousness of Christmas. Her elf now came with a letter from Santa that talks about Jesus but still gives a nod to Santa-christmas-magic. I thought it was a cool idea.
I agree with her thoughts about how Jesus' love and forgiveness should be emphasized over some arbitrary naughty/nice list. I don't like the idea of my kids behaving for the sole purpose of possibly receiving an Xbox from heaven. Jesus is certainly the reason for the season, but, I'm not exactly ready to shun off the secular world.
The Elf on a Shelf book is cute and didn't want to completely give it up as my 4 year old enjoys reading it. Plus, I don't want to be forced to stage elaborate scenes of Epi the Elf "sinning" so we can all forgive him. I can barely remember to move him before I go to bed!
The solution? I wrote a few new verses to the story and taped them into the book. I am still shocked by how good it looks. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to paste a link to my word file, so here are the words I used and which pages I glued them onto. I used "traditional arabic" font 20pt and it matched very closely to the original text.
Happy Holidays!
(page 1)
If you are naughty or nice it goes on a list
do you think this is true, or has something been missed?
Santa told me a story, and I promise it's true
about our Lord Jesus Christ, I will share it with you
(page 3)
Holidays are a time
to celebrate His birth
Jesus loves everyone
here on the Earth.
He wants us to be happy
and He knows we try.
Even when we make mistakes
he forgives us -
do you know why?
(page 5)
(top)
Jesus wants us with him in Heaven, full of peace, love and joy
He knows that inside we are all good girls and boys
(bottom)
Santa sent me to your house to learn about these things
about faith and forgiveness and the love that it brings.
Santa wants me to report back on all that I learn
I can tell him your Christmas wishes as my gift in return
(page 5 - no changes)
(page 7)
You can teach me all about God,
I'll share it with the North Pole crowd
They believe in Christ, too.
Your love and kindness will make them so proud
(page 8)
In the car, at the park,
or even at school
you must be nice to others
as one simple rule.
(page 9-10 - no changes)
(pages 11-12 - no changes)
(pages 12-13 - no changes)
(page 15)
[I won't get to tell him...off the stairs - no changes, but change the last two lines]
How will Santa know how much I've been taught
about the King of Kings and the salvation He brought?
Did you seriously write that??? It's soooo good! It rhymes and goes along with the story perfectly!!! I, for one, am impressed!
ReplyDeleteBut that elf creeps me out....
ReplyDeleteWe are using Duck Dynasty Si Elf it's less freaky than the red elf.you can get them at Wal-Mart.
ReplyDeleteThe kids and I Love this.....I went to Wal-Mart and bought the SI ELF from Duck Dynasty
ReplyDeleteIt's less freaky that that red one. That's what I will use this year.....no telling what Do - will get into. LOL