{"id":68267,"date":"2014-12-24T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T14:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=68267"},"modified":"2014-12-16T02:53:07","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T08:53:07","slug":"dear-little-sister-christmas-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/dear-little-sister-christmas-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Little Sister: A Christmas Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a little late in the game to issue you an Advent challenge. Instead, as my gift to you this Christmas Eve, I’m turning over this blog space to a distinguished guest author: my eight-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

First, some background information: In our household we’ve always tried to focus much more on Jesus than Santa during Advent and Christmas. I want to tread lightly here because what, how and when children learn about Santa is a decision best made by individual parents. So I don’t intend to blatantly spill any secrets here. But I will say that my daughter has always felt “important” knowing the real deal about Santa.<\/p>\n

She knows that others have different thoughts about Santa and is careful not to spoil things for anyone else. And I’m not just talking about other kids. A couple of years ago after Christmas Mass, the priest knelt down and asked her if Santa came to her house and brought her gifts. She smiled and adorably and innocently dodged the question because she didn’t want to ruin it for the priest just in case he was still waiting for the jolly guy in a red suit to squeeze down the chimney in the rectory.<\/p>\n

Just the other day we attended Breakfast with Santa at our parish. Santa himself asked her what she wanted for Christmas. Just like with the priest, she artfully danced around the question not wanting to reveal anything to Santa that might surprise him and Mrs. Claus.<\/p>\n

Now, let’s get back to the main point. My younger daughter is two. So this year the big one decided to give the little one some sisterly advice and explain how some families celebrate Christmas differently. She made a Christmas card for her little sister. Now I will share with you the text of that card.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Merry Christmas<\/p>\n

To: [Little Sister]<\/p>\n

From: [Big Sister]<\/p>\n

Dear [Little Sister],<\/p>\n

Understanding that this is only your [third] Christmas that maybe you might not know what to do. I decided to make a story for you about Christmas in two ways. The way that some people celebrate Christmas, and the way that we celebrate it. So get comfortable and read the two stories.<\/p>\n

Love,<\/p>\n

[Big Sister]<\/p>\n

Story 1 – How other people celebrate it<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may write a letter to Santa Claus and expect to see maybe no cookies on the plate you made, with no milk in the cup for drinking and no more whatever you put in the plastic bag for Rudolph.<\/p>\n

Story 2 – How we celebrate it<\/strong><\/p>\n

You would go to church that Sunday or the next and go to relatives’ house or them come to you. You would celebrate at the fact that Jesus was born about, I don’t know how many years ago it was, but… you know. You would eat treats because most people on the entire earth would use that tradition.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Have a blessed Christmas, everyone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a little late in the game to issue you an Advent challenge. Instead, as my gift to you this Christmas Eve, I’m turning over this blog space to a distinguished guest author: my eight-year-old daughter. First, some background information: In our household we’ve always tried to focus much more on Jesus than Santa during… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[384,383,330,165,2116],"class_list":["post-68267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-faith-blog","tag-advent","tag-christmas","tag-jesus","tag-parenting","tag-santa","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42889,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/st-nicholas-friend-children-poor-master-sneaky-good-deeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":68267,"position":0},"title":"St. Nicholas, Friend of Children and of the Poor, Master of Sneaky Good Deeds","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"December 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I wanted Santa to be real to my daughters forever, not only when they were small, but always. I accomplished this by teaching them about the original Santa Klaus, St. Nicholas, Friend of Children and of the Poor, Master of Sneaky Good Deeds. As a Saint he is forever accessible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo by Shawn Chapman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/IMG_0608-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":181178,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/in-the-spirit-of-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":68267,"position":1},"title":"In the Spirit of Advent","author":"Ablaze Ministries","date":"December 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year during Advent, the Johnson clan leads a church-wide food drive.\u00a0 We ask our church community to draw a family from our sister parish in downtown Houston and pray for them, give them boxes of food, and maybe get them a present or two.\u00a0 Then two Uhauls get filled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Advent-CCFM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Advent-CCFM-550x366.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Advent-CCFM-550x366.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Advent-CCFM-550x366.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":577215,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/spiritual-nourishment-for-the-last-week-of-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":68267,"position":2},"title":"Spiritual Nourishment for the Last Week of Advent","author":"Rachel","date":"December 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On the last leg of this Advent journey, I'd like to share with you two little bits of spiritual nourishment that I have found really helpful along the way. We are getting closer and closer to Bethlehem now, just one week away in this shortened Advent season. Can you feel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/800px-Meister_der_Kahriye-Cami-Kirche_in_Istanbul_004-550x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/800px-Meister_der_Kahriye-Cami-Kirche_in_Istanbul_004-550x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/800px-Meister_der_Kahriye-Cami-Kirche_in_Istanbul_004-550x400.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":186756,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/sunrise-dark-faith-advent-brightness-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":68267,"position":3},"title":"Sunrise: through the dark faith of Advent to the brightness of Christmas","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"December 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Traveling through Advent with grief this year has led to me to soul search about what Christmas is, and, in the process, to notice similarities between the journey of Advent into Christmas and the stages of the soul's progression into the heart of God. \u00a0According to Carmelite spirituality, \u00a0the soul\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo by Renee Bork","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12016594_10205918857824426_849206572_n-550x413.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12016594_10205918857824426_849206572_n-550x413.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12016594_10205918857824426_849206572_n-550x413.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":185388,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/185388\/","url_meta":{"origin":68267,"position":4},"title":"The Prayers – 3rd Sunday of Advent","author":"William Rooney","date":"December 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we can learn much from what we pray day in and day out in our Liturgy it would be profitable for us to reflect more profoundly upon the prayers of each day. 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