Now, with a family of our own, we have had to make decisions regarding what we would like our family Christmas traditions to be. This has sometimes been a difficult process at times.
To decide how we are going to celebrate Christmas, we have had to decide what is important to us about this holiday, what is important for us to convey about this holiday to our children, what do we want to focus on?
The obvious answer is Jesus. We want Christmas to be in every way possible focused on the birth of Christ, our Savior. We want to relish in and celebrated the joy and blessings that His birth has provided for us and the world. We want our children to know that this time of year is about anticipating and celebrating the gift of salvation that was brought into the world with Christ's birth.
This is not the easiest thing to do in America these days. We are surrounded by the idea that Christmas is about presents and stuff and food and just about anything and everything but the Son of God.
One decision we have made is not to "do" Santa Claus. What does this mean? It simply means there will be no man in a red suit bringing gifts down our chimney with loads of gifts for our kiddos. Instead, our kids will receive 3 gifts from us - as Jesus received 3 gifts as well. We are trying to take the focus off gifts.
I realize that we can't take Santa out of Christmas. But we can't lie to them either. I cannot reconcile in my mind telling my kids stories of a magical man who delivers gifts to every kid in the world and has flying reindeer and knows when they are naughty and nice, etc... then having them find out it is all a hoax.
How are they supposed to trust the truth of a Savior born of a virgin, who knows when they are naughty and nice, and was resurrected on the 3rd day?
As I read today, Jesus cannot compete with Santa Claus for a child. The excitement and fervor around these stories and the presents unfortunately will overshadow the birth of our Savior.
I so want my kids to marvel that Jesus came, just like God said he would, and he split history in two, forever transforming the concepts of hope and peace and salvation. And I just feel like when I create a season revolving around wish lists, frenzy, and alternate characters of honor, my kids will never understand any of this.- Jen Hatmaker, see link to article below
Santa will still be around our home in different ways - we will teach our kids of St. Nicholas who was a devoted follower of Jesus, who did bring gifts to poor children. We can celebrate that! The modern day Santa Claus will be treated in the same manner as we treat Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh. A character who is fun to watch on tv, sing songs about and we can even go see a man dressed up like him at the mall if we want. It is pretend and it is fun that is all.
There is some part of me that remembers my brother and I sneaking out of bed with flashlights to see what Santa brought and the joy and excitement that brought and is sad that my kids won't know that. But that part is dramatically overshadowed by the desire for my kids to know and love Jesus. To want to "behave" not because Santa is making his list, but because Jesus made a great sacrifice for them because He loved them.
This year we began another tradition known as the Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots." It is a time to learn about and anticipate the birth of Christ in the time before Christmas. Each night we hang an ornament on our Jesse Tree that symbolizes a person/event leading up to the birth of Christ. As we read our scripture and devotion, pray, sing and hang our ornament on our tree we are anticipating the birth of Christ. At this point, Eden only likes the singing, but Sawyer is enjoying hanging the ornament and he says a prayer, etc...
This time of year will also be about spending time as family, much as it was when I was growing up. We like to look at Christmas lights and decorate our tree with ornaments that celebrate our family and spend time with grandparents, etc... The love of our family is such a blessing that it is a great time to celebrate that.
We also want to take this time of year to teach our children to appreciate our blessings by giving to those less fortunate. This year, that simply means helping to provide gifts for a child in foster care. As they get older, I hope we can expand this and have a more "hands-on" way of helping those who are less fortunate.
Here are two great articles/posts about Christmas as a parent and a Christian that you should definitely read:
What We Tell our Kids about Santa, Mark Driscoll
The Christmas Conundrum, Jen Hatmaker
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