Did you ever get a Christmas letter in the mail from friends and have to check the return address to be sure  it’s the same family? Cause what you know are the facts, have a “holiday spin” that closely resemble BIG exaggerations at best!

So as my husband and I consider putting together our first Christmas letter in over a decade, I’m trying to think of what a loving note would include, and NOT include.

Do you ever wonder what Jesus’ Christmas letters would look like? No? Well I have. I have to think it would be less filled with the Walking On Water thing and Calming The Storm, and more filled with love and concern of His reader. I believe it would be chock full of encouragement and loving re-connection. So I’ve put together a general guideline that we’ll be keeping in mind as we write up our letter this year.

1. Don’t Exaggerate – Your child getting an “A” on a test does not make them a straight A student.

2. Do Share Stories – Share warm family stories as close to the truth as possible. A few pictures are special to help tell the stories.

3. Don’t Be Negative – This isn’t the time to throw anybody under the bus, no matter what they did this year.

4. Do Be Interesting But Pithy – Don’t get hung up on details that seem important to you. The readers digest version is what we’re going for.

5. Don’t Brag – Just don’t brag. It’s really annoying.

@suzlynn  Twitter