6 Months To Go!

Oh, my darlings,

🧼 You’d think June would be a quiet month up here at the North Pole, but no. Absolutely not. The peppermint plants are sprouting crooked, half the elves are sunburned from chasing snow reflections, and I’ve had to mop the kitchen floor three times already today—twice for cocoa spills and once for what I hope was melted marshmallow.

We’re officially six months away from Christmas, which means the Holiday Countdown Board in the toy shoppe has been flipped. Herman—the elf in charge of “workflow optimization” (don’t ask)—practically did a cartwheel yesterday when he adjusted the dial to “Mid-Year Production Surge.”

🎅 Santa was less enthusiastic.

You see, my dear husband has been trying to fix the sleigh GPS system. Personally, I think it worked just fine the old-fashioned way—stars, maps, and instinct. But someone (not naming names, but their ears are slightly too pointy and their clipboard far too large) insisted it needed upgrading. Last I checked, Santa had one of Jingles’s dog biscuits taped to the sleigh dashboard and was muttering about “satellite betrayal.”

The Great Sock Disappearance of June 🧦

Meanwhile, the laundry room has become ground zero for a growing crisis: missing socks. Not one pair, not two—but an epidemic. I don’t know who’s behind it, but I have my suspicions. A trail of fuzzy red thread led me straight to the hot cocoa station this morning, where one of the younger elves was warming their feet over the cocoa warmer like it was a campfire. When I asked where their socks were, they simply said, “Redistributed.”

I had to take a walk after that.

Santa’s New Obsession ☕🥧

Now, Santa has become very attached to a new mug he found at the General Store. It says “Even Santa Needs a Snack Break.” He’s been using it to justify pie at 9:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and once—once!—at midnight. I reminded him gently that pie is not a food group. He reminded me that love keeps no record of wrongs.

Touché.

A Moment to Ponder… ✨

But between the sock shenanigans and Santa’s pie crusade, I did manage to sit quietly by the window this morning with a cup of tea. Just for a moment. The world outside was still—the soft crunch of snow under deer hooves, the gentle hush of wind, and far off, the faint echo of hammering from the toy shoppe.

It struck me that even in June, we are preparing.

Preparing for joy, for giving, for that sacred night that changed everything. And isn’t that what life is? A series of small, steady preparations? Not just for a holiday, but for heaven?

We bake, we plan, we patch socks. We forgive the cocoa stains and the extra slice of pie. And in all of it—all of it—we are practicing love.

“Let all that you do be done in love.” —1 Corinthians 16:14

So, my darlings, even though Christmas is still far off, may your June be full of small preparations that matter. A kind word. A warm meal. A hand on a shoulder. The world doesn’t always notice such things. But heaven does. 🙏

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe I just heard Bell—the larger of our two St. Bernards—barking at the cocoa warmer again. Heaven help us all.

With flour on my apron and joy in my heart,
—Mrs. Claus