Santa in September???

Starting in September, I start finding letters in the fireplace addressed to Santa.  The letters disappear sometime that day and then, usually the next day, a letter from Santa appears in the fireplace...Weird....Usually, the letters to Santa contain questions like; "How many reindeer do you really have?" , "How many elves work in your toy shop?", "How old are you and Mrs. Clause?" and "Can I write to one of your elves?"  Santa always responds with a lot of detail to each of their questions. Sometimes he leaves weird and unusual candy for them to try.  Aubrey has an elf pen pal that she writes each year named Renzer; she even has a picture of her.  Santa uses his letters to do a lot of teaching about service and being kind to others.  He talks to the 'Lytle children' about the special meaning of Christmas and who it is really all about.  

Here is an excerpt from one of his letters:

"Even though I depend mostly on what some people call magic to get toys delivered I still have to put a lot of effort into preparing for any possible problems.  It's just like any task you have to deal with;  it takes faith, effort and prayer."  

Here is another that he wrote to Aubrey:

"Most girls your age are already beginning to question my existence.  What they don't understand is I'm as real as they want me to be.  If you believe there's someone who wants to make people happy more than anything else in the world then you  believe in me.  Your mom and dad have never stopped believing in me...they know how important Jesus is to me.  I feel like the most important thing I do is help people remember to act more like Jesus...even if it's only for a month or two each year."

How lucky are we to have these Santa letters?  And how lucky are we to have Santa, who puts so much time and thought into each response.  These are memories my children will have forever.  Someday I will have to get their letters back from Santa so that I can put them all together in a book.  (that shouldn't be too difficult since I have my own special relationship with 'Santa')  I have had to let Santa know  that some of the neighbor kids want to know how they can get an elf pen pal......oops!  Thank you Santa for making our holiday season longer and more meaningful. Most of all, thank you for all the wonderful things you teach my children......WE LOVE YOU!