Well, I have admitted it before, but I will again. I am a blog stalker. I enjoy looking at other peoples blogs and getting ideas and encouragement from them by what they blog about. I don't know these people and they don't know me(that is where the stalker part comes in)! There has to be people out there reading my blog that I don't know! If you are one of them, PLEASE send me a comment, I would love to meet you. Who knows, I may already know you because I read your blog!!!! :-) Anyway, back to what this post is about. By stalking blogs I have noticed that people have been posting about their Christmas traditions. So, I figured I would do the same, so here it goes!
I LOVE Christmas! We begin this wonderful season in November. No, I don't start decorating and all the jazz, but we do begin talking to our children and preparing them for this wonderful time of year. The time that we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. We talk about all our many blessings and we try to do acts of service to share God's love with others. I know you are probably thinking we should do that all year long! We do! but we try to start stressing to our kids that it is all about JESUS before all the hustle and bustle of the season approaches and before everyone starts talking about toys, Santa and all the other stuff that comes with the season! Now, don't think WOW they have got it all together! I am very sorry to disappoint you, but we DO NOT! You will notice I said we TRY!:-)
Okay, now that I did mention Santa, let me go ahead and get it out. I have lost count of the number of "are you crazy" looks that I have gotten when people find out that we do not do "Santa" at our house. Let me start off by saying that I do not think Santa is bad. This is something that Daniel and I both felt convicted about before we even had children. So, we knew that from the start we would not be playing the Santa game with our kids
You are probably wondering WHY??? Well, here is why we have found it best for our family not to do the whole Santa thing.
I was in the fourth grade when I found out that Santa was fake and it was really hard for me to grasp that my parents had "lied" to me, I was devastated. I could not believe that they had been telling me something that was not true. My parents have always taught me to tell the truth and when I found out that Santa was not true, my little heart was broken and hurt because of lies. Now, let me say that my parents are wonderful people and they were and still are the best parents ever. It was not there fault! It is just a tradition that has been around for years and they had no idea that I would have been hurt by it.
To add to this story....... about 3 weeks before I found out that Santa was a fake, I had met my wonderful Lord and Savior! I knew I was a sinner and saved by the grace of God. Even as a young child(a 4th grader) my life was changed and I remember that life changing experience like it was yesterday.
I say all that because after finding out that Santa was not real, then I wondered if Jesus was really real.
You see, I knew this guy that I thought was "Santa", he brought me presents every year, I went to see him at the mall, I had sat in his lap and talked to him and it turns out he was FAKE!
I had never seen Jesus in a visual sense. So, I questioned myself if God was really real.
I know you are thinking that I was a messed up little kid and Santa ruined my life. NO, that is not how the story ended! God healed my little heart. Remember, I was saved, so I knew that God was real because He lived in me. My parents also did a great job in teaching me about Him and sharing His wonderful love to me.
So with that story and many other convictions, that is why Daniel and I don't play the Santa game. We try to focus on the real gift and that is Jesus. We live in a "worldly" world and there are way to many distractions out there as it is. We want to make sure we do our best to raise our children according to God's will and try to prepare them for the world that we live in.
Now, don't be feeling sorry for our kids, the are not deprived by any means! They get just as many presents, sing Rudolf the Red Nose Rain Deer and all the other fun things that comes with the season.
When asked about Santa, our response to them is that we are celebrating Jesus Birthday and Santa, snowman, Christmas trees and all of those "things" are just a way we celebrate His special day. Kind of like clowns at a birthday party or any other themed party. The real reason for the celebration is not about the decorations or the games, it is about whose birthday you are celebrating. In this case we are celebrating the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
They do get gifts, but just not from Santa. They are from us, grandparents and etc. We tell them that we have already received the greatest gift and that is Jesus, but we can give gifts to others to show them that we love them and also to show them God's love.
Let me add again that Daniel and I were convicted to not do Santa, and we fell that this is the way that God wants us to celebrate this wonderful time of year. Just because we were convicted does not mean that it is the way you should do it! Everyone has different convictions! We have many friends and family that do Santa and that is great. Whatever works best for your family is the best way!
Now finally to some of our Christmas Traditions
-Every year in mid November, we participate in Operation Christmas Child.
www.samaritanspurse.org
We take the kids to the store and they each pick out things to feel up their shoebox. After we finish our shopping we head back home to feel up the boxes and pray over them for the children that will receive the gifts.
-Last year we started a new tradition, thanks to Grace Anne. She requested that we go Christmas caroling. It was so much fun, we went with friends to the homes of shut-ins from our church. It was such a blessing to go and sing about our Lord and Savior and to see the joy on their faces. We have our calendar marked and we are ready to go again this year!
-We also pray with the kids and ask God to show us how we can bless someone this Christmas by showing them the love of God. Grace Anne is really into this one this year. It is so sweet to hear her praying about it and then coming to us with different acts of service that we can do.
-We make a Birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day we put candles on it and sing to Jesus! The kids love doing this and I enjoy it too!
-We also do "What God wants for Christmas". This is a really neat way to share with your children.
http://www.lifewaystores.com/lwstore/product.asp?isbn=1572299312
-We also let the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve. The gift is ALWAYS new PJ's! The kids love that they get to open a present and they can't put on their new PJ's fast enough!
-On Christmas day, we gather around the tree and read the Christmas story. We end in a prayer thanking God for the greatest gift of all JESUS!
So, there you go! Some of our Christmas traditions!
I know that this post is LONG, but I do feel better getting it out there!:-) Now, when I get those crazy looks, I will just send them to my blog and let it do all the explaining!
I would love to hear your comments and also about some of your traditions. PLEASE leave me comments!!! I know people are reading my blog because I have a counter on the bottom of the blog!
So leave me comments, I want to hear feedback from you!:-) Every blog I read have lots of comments and I don't ever have any!!! I am starting to feel left out!:-(
I pray that you have a very Merry Christmas as we celebrate Jesus' Birthday! I look forward to hearing from you!
