Why I am not a fan of "Elf on the Shelf"

As the Christmas season drew near I started having some questions…

"Where is the line between American Consumerism Christmas, and our holy celebration of our Savior coming to the earth as an infant?"

"Where did all of this red & green, tree, santa claus, elves, reindeer, frosty the snowman stuff come from? How did we get here?"

"What points back to our Savior? And what is just fluff offered up as "tradition" that we keep doing year after year because it makes us HAPPY?"

"Should we as Christians stand up and celebrate this season differently because it is about our Savior?" Should we look different from the world or look just like it?

We have big green trees with ornaments and lights…. Why?

We talk of a large jolly man who delivers presents…. Why?

And NOW there is an elf…. Why?

Are we hijacking a celebration intended for one thing and making it our own? Because it makes us "Happy"?

Lots of questions.

So, I feel that the Elf on the Shelf is just one further step away from Jesus. Another American creation that does not promote the gospel or celebrate our Lord.

Call me and extremist, call me a Bah-Humbug, call me whatever you want. I am not trying to delete the fun, just question our motive and direction and cause.

I discovered some beautiful things when I started questioning:

Saint Nicholas the inspiration for this jolly red man, loved the Lord Jesus Christ with his whole heart. He gave all he had to the poor children in part so that they would not be sold into slavery. He traveled to Jerusalem so that he could walk where Jesus walked and know his Lord more intimately. His is a beautiful story of faith and servanthood. One that has been forgotten and glossed over with fairytales and cartoons.

Trees are a symbol as well. A missionary who traveled to Germany discovered them worshiping trees in honor of Thor and Oden. As he chopped it down they thought for sure he would be struck by lightening. When he wasn't they listened to this missionary's message, he used the tree to explain the Trinity with the triangle shape explaining God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. As a celebration of the One True God, believers in Germany started cutting down trees and bringing them in their homes to celebrate the coming of the Lord Jesus to save them.

The Elf on the Shelf is a creation less than 10 years old that watches you all day and judges you and tells "Santa" on you if you are bad. - No Thanks, no history, no gospel, no thanks.

The Christmas season is full of distractions further taking away the attention of the magnificent miracle that happened 2,000+ years ago. The Holy God in heaven came down from his throne to be a lowly vulnerable infant to save all mankind from the payment of sin, by being our payment on the Cross. So that we can one day stand in heaven with Him.

Be warned a SOAPBOX is coming: I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I made a decision 10 years ago to not watch rated R movies. I felt that it was a conviction from God in my heart. And since I have given that up I have noticed a higher sensitivity to crude language, violence, gore, you name it. I also am noticing how it is popping up all over TV now. Breaking Bad & Walking Dead for example, the most popular shows could be Rated-R, I have not seen them, but I see a lot of my fellow believers that LOVE them. Even leaders in the faith, and this makes me wonder. How as Christians, if we look at what the world looks at and LOVE it, How are we different from the world? 

Romans 12:2  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Because what we put in to our brains is what we think on. ALL DAY. I am guilty of this too, that is how I know it's true. I watch one episode of TV and that is what wanders into my idle brain. Because I am seeing it and giving it my full attention. And not the bible. If I read the bible as often as I watch TV would my mind wander there? Wouldn't that be better?

Phillipians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

What we love and enjoy and give our attention to is what fills up our brains. And what is in our brains and our thoughts is what we become. Movies and TV are just one example, but I don't see in our American society Christians standing up and going against the grain of our society, I see them merging into it, accepting it, trying to look like the world in order to "reach the lost for Jesus" Well Jesus didn't go with the flow, He went against the grain, ticked a lot of people off and changed the world. So, fellow Christians, if we look like the world, How will we change it?

Psalms 101:3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes

I found an article online that does a really good job of putting it into words The Rated R conviction better than I could. 

http://ramblingprophet.blogspot.com/2006/08/biblical-rationale-for-avoiding-r.html

Grace Maxine

We have been blessed with a new addition to our "Little" family!

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awake

I heard a song on the way home tonight by Matt Maher. Christ is Risen.

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

I felt like the song was talking about me. These past few months, changing our entire lives, moving, being away from my husband, have been hard. But through it all I was seeking God. Seeking Him more than I have in a long time. Reading his word, listening to worship music, praying more... And I realized tonight on the way home that I AM AWAKE AGAIN! For so long I have been going about my life, not turned away from God, but not actively seeking Him either, and I was dead or asleep, however you want to put it.  I was so excited about how open my eyes are to all that God has placed in my path. The people at work I have the chance to share His love with. The opportunity I have to teach our son about God and pray over him and teach him how to pray and watch him grow in to a might man of God. The need for prayer and God's love in this city. The overwhelming desire to lead worship in a body of believers. Moving here was scary. But through God's eyes I see that this is the path he wants us on & he is going to open doors wide for us to touch lives and help get his message of HOPE and LOVE out to the people who need it. 

I heard another song that is a PERFECT explanation of how our relationship with God works: 

The more I seek you,
the more I find you.
The more I find you,
the more I love you

This is so simple but so true. If we earnestly, daily seek the Lord, we will find Him and we will be amazed at the abundance of love and wisdom he wants to pour out in our lives when we diligently seek HIM!!!!

AMEN!

cincinnati

So I officially announced on Facebook this week that we are moving to Cincinnati, Ohio. Instead of trying to answer a lot a questions from a lot of different people I thought I would put the whole story on here so that everyone will know what is going on. :)

So in 2004, I started Little Images Photography. And it was my dream to be self-employeed and run my own successful photography business. And I do loooooove photography. But let's jump ahead to 2011. I have a son, and a business. I photographed 15 weddings in 4 months last summer. I didn't really see my beautiful family at all. I was sending Grant to the sitter 4-5 days a week to "run" this business by myself. I also was putting him to bed around 7pm and then staying up till 2am editing images.

To say the least, I was exhausted and unhappy. I was starting to wonder if this "dream" of having my own business was worth it. I was working way too many hours & not making enough money doing it. 

So, I started to question it all. What was important to me? Where were my priorities? What did I want my life to look like? Was this it? Was this the life I wanted? I held all of this in & didn't say anything because I was afraid I would be letting a lot of people down if I quit photography. But it was the only solution I could think of. If I went back to work outside the home, then I could actually enjoy my home and my family when I got home.

On December 17th, my best friend, Dawana, who had moved to Cincinnati in 2007, was in town. She randomly stopped by our house really quick just to pick something up and it made me miss old times and our friendship so much. So I gave her a quick hug and saw her out, as I shut the front door behind her, I turned and looked to my husband Jeff, and said "Can we move to Cincy, I miss Wana." And Jeff said "If you can get a job that makes what I earn, we will move wherever you want." I was shocked, I couldn't believe what he said. Was he serious? YES, he was! 

So I started looking that day for jobs in surrounding cities for a Graphic Design job. Long story short I got a couple interviews in different areas in February and started as a "Re-toucher" for a packaging company on March 2nd. The business is based in Cincinnati, Ohio and we are looking for a home in Hebron, Kentucky.

breakfast

my favorite time of day is when Grant and I come downstairs for breakfast and we put on praise music in the kitchen.

I sing and Grant has recently started singing with me too. He also sways back and forth with the songs. It blesses my heart so much to see my adorable little man praising God. So I wanted to share!

Captivating

I am reading the book Captivating by the Eldredges.

I just finished chapter 3. I don't read very fast. I am trying to take my time especially with this book though because it has been so eye opening for me.

So far the book is about how we as women have specific "God-qualities" in our make-up as women. I was trying to wrap my head around all the book was saying and then there was this sentance.

God is not a harlot.

It caught me so off-guard. But it really opened my eyes. God does give himself away just anyone. He wants to be pursued. He wants us to want him. He wants to be loved.

This has totally changed my perspective on how I handle my relationship with the Lord. I must pursue Him, I must show him that I want and desire to spend time with Him. Then he will see that I am serious about a relationship with Him. That I do not take it lightly. That I am committed to Him!

Then God will trust me & open up his heart to me more than he ever has before.

And to truely know the heart of God would be such an overwhelming honor and blessing!