So, another Christmas season is in the books. Another Advent season has passed. One question: How did you do? I don't mean did you spend the requisite $8000 plus that the average American spends (you call that average?) - I mean did you show those around you - and especially the kids in your life about the real meaning of Christmas?
My friend Melissa of Corbin in the Dell (check it out - she's a pretty smart girl!) pointed out yesterday on her Facebook page that there were 364 more days until Christmas and we should make the most of them. My initial reply was, "can I get a nap first?" However, I want to suggest that we use the next 363 more days to do just that - prepare for next Christmas.
It started this way. Last year, it became painfully aware to us that our little kids were struggling with the real reason we celebrate Christmas. They know all about Jesus, and even guessed that perhaps it was when Jesus died on the cross. Clearly, the confusion stretched far beyond just this season, despite repeated attempts to make those seasons very clear in their young minds. They are pretty smart kids, people, the lack was most decidedly our own.
We spent a lot of time teaching them this year, but once again when the opportunity came around to give the answer about what Christmas was about, they struggled. What do your kids have to say about this? Have you asked? I would like to share some ideas with you about how you can make Christmas 2015 more meaningful for those around you. I have read about some people on Facebook who have had birthday cakes for Jesus. I personally think this is a great place to start - AND it can be a non-threatening way to introduce non-churched friends to the concept. A birthday party is not threatening. Most people understand the concept, and your kids will be more than happy to help you plan, decorate and implement such an activity. Their involvement can be very valuable, so let them help!
One resource that I would check out if I were you is my friend, Jeannie Schulman's book, Christmas Without Santa: Creating a Christ-Centered Christmas. She has some good ideas about how to celebrate - with or without Santa - that can point participants back to the "Christ" in Christmas. Jeannie is a friend from New Orleans. I have seen firsthand how she has used the ideas in this book to make Christmas more meaningful for her children and those around her. She writes in a very approachable way, too. It is published through Xyron, so you might miss it if you don't go looking for it. So, go look for it.
Another resource someone shared with me this year was fabulous - and I highly recommend you check it out for next year. This little book - Jotham's Journey is a fabulous resource for a family wanting to celebrate Advent! It is an epic tale of a young man who decided to disobey his parents, leading to a journey beyond any you might imagine, and the ending is fabulous. To be fair and honest, we didn't actually read it according to direction. We got started late, and due to our hectic schedule, we struggled to keep up. However, we DID finish it on Christmas Day, and we ALL loved it. This is another book you might easily miss, but I highly recommend it for any family that wants to celebrate the real Christmas story. Honestly, I started wishing it would never end, even though I knew it had to! There are two additional books as well - Tabitha's Travels and Bartholomew's Passage. The same friend that recommend Jotham's book and loaned it to us for the season bought the Bartholomew for us for next year. It is one of my favorite Christmas gifts!
I have also in the past enjoyed the story Benjamin's Box along with the Resurrection Eggs for the Easter season. (Thanks, Crystal!) A few years ago, we found a treasure box and used the story and the eggs to make Resurrection Sunday more meaningful for our children. This year, perhaps we will try Amon's Adventure instead. It is written by Arnold Ytreeide, the same author who wrote Jotham's Journey. Before I met Susan, I had never heard of these books, but now I really am looking forward to trying that Easter resource out. I will be ordering early, just in case.
I don't know about you, but at Christmas time, money gets tight around the Christian Casa. This is why I am recommending these books early - as preparation for a Christmas 2015 that will be full of meaning for your family. If you order early in the year, you don't have to sweat it closer to Christmas, when your focus is on how to bless those around you with meaningful Christmas gifts.
A few more things. Jeannie's book is called Christmas Without Santa. I have to say, whether or not Santa is a part of your Christmas celebration is none of my business. I can honestly say that I have raised children both ways - two that would fight tooth and nail to prove to you that Santa was real, and two that would love to inform your gullible 5 year old that Santa cannot possibly exist and is, in fact, your own parents. I don't feel like judging you for your choice. Please don't judge me for mine. However, consider this: we should never give Santa the attributes that belong to God alone. Only God knows when you are sleeping and when you are awake. Even parents aren't always sure on that one! Make sure that the focus remains on the fact that Jesus became a man. Our God set aside his majesty and became a vulnerable, helpless baby that had to be cared for by mere humans in order that we might know Him and experience His salvation.
When your children are old enough to find that Santa is a well-meaning fantasy, will they believe you when you speak of Jesus? This was an agonizing choice for us when we adopted our two youngest. Let's face it. Not too many things sound as much like a fairy tale as the God of the universe coming down as a man to live a sinless life and die on the cross to save us from the dreadful curse that sin became in our world. When we adopted, the little kids didn't even believe us when we told them that our soda cup was empty - there was no way I was lying to them about something even remotely as important as Santa Claus. I have tried to always be honest with them. How will your children respond when they learn the truth about this myth? Trust me - some child that has recently learned the truth in their own house will be more than ready to inform them. So handle it carefully. Other messages in their lives will be much more important later and you will want their trust then!
In parenting, our goal should always be the end product. We work hard to keep them healthy, happy and safe. Make sure that the most important messages get through to them, too. It is just as important, maybe even more so. Teach them the truth of God's Word, God's rescue plan and about the amazing life that God has planned for them. No other knowledge will ever serve them as well as that! Need help? Another resource that I love is the Jesus Storybook Bible. If you don't have one - get one and read it from the front cover to the back - out loud!
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