The Christmas Angel

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season it is often hard to remember that, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”.  Somehow between shopping for everyone you know, attending dozens of holiday parties and class parties, getting Christmas cards ordered and mailed, shopping for the perfect Christmas Eve outfits, Santa and everything else, Jesus sadly gets put on the back burner. I too have been found guilty of this.

A few years ago I found myself overwhelmed by the mass commercialism and consumption that Christmas brings, not to mention the stress and pressure to live up to a certain expectation of what Christmas is supposed to look like.  So, for the last three – four Christmas seasons, I have been scoring the Internet and Pinterest for ways to help my family be more intentional about keeping Jesus at the forefront of our Christmas traditions. Finally, last year, I stumbled across The Christmas Angel. 

The idea behind the Christmas Angel is much like the Elf on The Shelf but it is completely Jesus centered. Its focus is the true meaning of Christmas.  It encourages children to have a heart like Christ during the holiday season by teaching them love, to serve and GIVE rather then to RECEIVE.  These are values that will last a lifetime.

From their website, “The Christmas season is about a precious story to celebrate a gift that none of us deserve, but have an opportunity to receive. The birth of Jesus is the greatest example of love. So how can we show the same love to others? Simply by putting others before ourselves. We should help our children focus on giving rather than receiving, for that is the true spirit of Christmas.”

Last year was the first year the Christmas Angel came to visit our family. You can read more about her first visit HERE. My kids are already excited about her coming again this year. My seven year old asked me just the other day if I thought she was coming again and what she might have them do this year. I told him that I am sure she is coming and that I am sure she has great things planned for them.  It is encouraging to know that they are thinking about the Christmas Angel and the mission she might send them on this year. 

Last year she had them take flowers to their teachers with notes of encouragement and love. She had them take candy canes to all of the neighbors with the Legend of the Candy Cane attached to each one.  She also had us take coins to the hospital with a note attached and taped to the vending machines that read “Enjoy a treat on us! Merry Christmas.” I had many other little missions from the Christmas Angel planned out but our family was slammed hard with the flu for about ten days and it kind of put a halt on our Angel Missions. However our Angel did leave us little “get-well” notes with suggestions on how to love each other while we were sick. It made for some sweet memories.

We will be doing the Christmas Angel again this year. If you would like to follow the missions she sends us on, I will be posting them on my Instagram feed.  These missions are inspired by random acts of kindness I have found on Pinterest.

What are some of your family’s traditions? How do you keep Christmas focused on Jesus for your children? We would love to hear from you. 

About Jenna

Jenna is a born and raised West Texas girl married to her husband Phillip since 2005 and momma to three beautiful children, Parker, Beckham and Emerson. Jenna is passionate for Jesus. Seeking daily to make His name and glory known through the little moments in life. Jenna is also crazy about Africa. Specifically Ethiopia. Jenna and her husband have a heart for adoption, missions and ministry.  You can often find Jenna grabbing coffee with friends, sneaking in much needed dates with her husband, reading way to many books at once, trying out her latest Pinterest find, playing outside with her kids or serving in her church. You can read more about Jenna and her little family at DayofKnight.com or you can also connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter andPinterest. 

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