When Joe and I married, I didn’t ask him if he believed in Santa Claus or if he would want to teach our future children about him. But I did ask him if he believed in Jesus.
At the time, I was not as close to my Savior as I should have been, however, within a year of marriage, I began to miss going to church and that started a whole realization that Jesus is Lord of ALL. I had even said (didn’t tell Joe) that I didn’t want to have children, but this “opening all the closets of my heart” started a whole new direction in my life. I gave my whole heart to Jesus and asked Him what HE wanted for my life.
The trajectory of my life changed immediately as all my goals and deepest wants were about being pleasing to God. Within a few months, I was impressed by the Holy Spirit to quit my job with a local endodontist, get off birth control pills and in what I now call, getting ready for God’s plan, began to get more involved in Bible Studies, church events, and used my home time to listen to radio programs with awesome Bible scholars like J. Vernon McGee, and others who prepared me for the road ahead.
It is obvious to me now that God wanted me to have children, not too long after my “prep” Joe and I were blessed with twin daughters (God does have a sense of humor.) Then within 6 years, we had 4 more children. We were blessed and busy, to say the least.
Now, herein is the rub, Joe, who worked tirelessly to provide for our now big family, was all about Santa Claus at Christmas. I was not sure. Let’s go back to my family memories of Santa. I looked forward to presents and the wonder and magic of Christmas. It wasn’t long before I knew that Santa was just a fun representation of Christmas giving and I knew my parents bought me gifts. Fast forward to our first Christmases and I wanted to make sure Santa didn’t take first place without disrespecting my sweet, hardworking husband and taking away family fun for the children.
It was a dilemma of my own making, but a dilemma none-the-less.
In researching for this post, I looked up the origins of the Santa story. Historically, in 280AD, there was a St. Nicholas, who was “protector of children and sailors.” (History.com) And Sinter Klaas was the Dutch version of St. Nicholas. Fast forward to the 1800’s and Clement Clarke Moore wrote a story for his children entitled, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” popularly known today as “T’was the Night Before Christmas.” Then in 1934, the popular song, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” These are a part of my memories that made Christmas as fun and magical for me as a child.
I came from a Christian background and Jesus was always the center of Christmas, yet, as a child, I enjoyed the smiles and wonder that the Santa story brought. Is there a balance there? I know the world has overwhelmed us with Santa everything, but can we share Jesus and Santa as Christians?
I’m going to vote “yes” on this, with some specifications. Joe and I were always able to balance the Jesus and Santa question with this, always keep Santa fun and Jesus real. And take your children to a Bible-believing church, that gives the Gospel message. If Santa is there, he is only a spectator, not the star.
I know the non-believers of this world have gone overboard and even moved our precious Savior out of Christmas, however, to snub traditions and harmless fun is to do ourselves an injustice as Christians. We know Jesus is the Reason for the Season and we have made sure to train our children so.
You know, newspapers are now obsolete, Black Friday is Black Every Day, and for Christians, Santa is pretty much out of the limelight.
Let’s focus on the love and light that graced our world on Christmas, our precious Messiah, God, Jesus who came to Save the World. When we do that, Santa is not a threat to our children’s lives.
Now, don’t even ask me about the Easter Bunny!
Professional Mom