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We went to the mall over Veteran’s Day weekend and guess who was there?!
Santa!
I couldn’t believe it. Wasn’t Halloween yesterday?
Of course my boys begged me to go see him and of course, even though it’s not even Thanksgiving, they had a long list of gifts they wanted to tell Santa about.
And so begins the struggle many Christian families have this time of year.
How do we keep Christ in Christmas?
I am not anti-Santa. Our family believes and HERE’S why.
But I see very clearly how Santa can muddy the waters of our Savior’s birth, so I am always on the hunt for creative ways to direct my family’s hearts upward during the Christmas season! The kind of upward vision that goes way past the North Pole! 😉
So when Dayspring® asked me to review their latest Christmas product for Christian families, I leapt at the opportunity.
Are you familiar with Elf on the Shelf? Chances are good that you have seen this funny story and tradition about a small plush elf that hides around your home during the days leading up to Christmas. The elf is quite mischievous as he moves from room to room playing tricks and making messes. Each day the elf keeps an eye on your kids to make sure they are being ‘nice’ or ‘naughty.’ On the 24th, the elf returns to the North Pole to report your child’s behavior to Santa.
It’s a lot of fun (you can see our elf, Ned, HERE), but I have always wished our elf told the real Christmas story better.
A story that doesn’t have anything to do with our having to behave perfectly or else we get punished with coal – a message that couldn’t be farther from the Gospel truth!
Introducing Shepherd on the Search.
Dayspring’s® Shepherd on the Search: Finding CHRIST in Christmas Advent Activity Play Set
The play set includes a sturdy box that doubles as beautiful manger scenes, an adorable plush shepherd, and a hardcover picture book that tells the story of a small shepherd boy who hears the angels telling the Good News of Jesus’ birth, so he begins a journey to find His Savior.
After you read the story with your kids, they will understand that each day leading up to December 25th, their little shepherd will be hiding in a new spot every morning for them to find! Much like Elf on the Shelf, the Shepherd moves around doing silly things, but his main purpose is to find Jesus by getting closer and closer to the manger each day.
On the morning of the 25th your kids will awake to find the Shepherd in the manger scene with the Lord!
1 Chronicles 16:11 instructs us to, “Seek His face continually,” – I love that Shepherd on the Search gives families a fun and tangible way to practice this truth in their homes.
My kids are so excited about this new tradition! We can’t wait to see where our shepherd will hide each day. But most important, I can’t wait to see how our little Shepherd daily reminds my boys about the real meaning of Christmas – to daily seek the Lord and celebrate His wonderful coming.
I will be posting some of our shepherd’s antics on Instagram once the Advent season begins, so if you don’t already follow the Fairy, pop over HERE and do so now!
Dayspring® is also going to be posting lots of fun Shepherd on the Search ideas on their special Shepherd on the Search website throughout the month of December – so make sure to sign up for their newsletter.
(Affiliate Link below! Thank you for supporting my family!)
Would you like to help your family focus on the Reason for the Season with your own Shepherd on the Search Advent Activity Play Set?
**Click HERE to buy Shepherd on the Search and celebrate Jesus’ birth in your home all December long!**
(affiliate link)
Want MORE Christ-centered Christmas ideas?
Check out 12 of the BEST ideas in THIS POST!
“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
Joyfully,
Julie 🙂
*I was given this product as a free gift from Dayspring® in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you, Dayspring® for creating products for families that celebrate Jesus!
My post on this goes live tomorrow and I’m still SO excited to start using it in a couple weeks (although my little gal’s been playing with it every since it arrived!). Josh was actually our worship pastor here in our part of FL several years ago and I’m just so excited for him and his family over this project! Hope yo have a fantastic week,Julie, and I can’t wait to see how your little guys like the shepherd this year!
Lisa! How exciting!!! Send me the link to your post!! I would love to see it!!! Thank you for this comment! Where in Florida are you???
Would love to have for my grandkiddos!
LOVE this!!! We don’t do Santa in our house so I always loved the Elf on the Shelf as a fun idea but it didn’t really match up with us but this sound great! I’ll have to show the hubs… 🙂
We started this tradition last year when my son was 5 and I didn’t need to do a lot of explaining 😉. However, this year he wants to know if the shepherd is real like the elf. How do you explain this to your kids? I’m torn 😬.