“Christmas my child is love in action.” ~ Dale Evans
In the Batton household, we didn’t need an elf on the shelf to remind us that “you better watch out, you better not pout. Santa Claus is coming to town.”

I can still hear the kinds of things the prominent character in my life story said some fifty years ago. When my twin and I and our two brothers got unruly around the holidays, here’s the kind of verbal warning we’d get:

Ya’ll better behave yo’selves right now. Sainty and dem reindeers don’t gotta mess with chillins who ain’t behavin’ and not listenin’ to dare mamas! Sainty Claus, why, he’ll pass ya’ll on by and go on over to somebody else’s house and drop off presents. He ain’t gonna wanta interrupt no come to Jesus meetin’ we gonna have in dis house if ya’ll don’t stop dat bickerin’ and a fightin!

I guess I better get Mr. Battoney, yo’ daddy, up on da roof to clean out dat chimbley ‘case ya’ll decide to straighten out and Sainty decide ta make an appearance!

Oh how I loved that lady!! And the richness in the way of life lessons she brought to our family life. If you would like to learn more about the gospel truth, according to Fanny, who was a miracle worker of sorts, it’s all inside the award-winning memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected. 

And that’s all I’ve got for you today on All Things Fulfilling. See you tomorrow!