Posts
from 'I want' to 'Christ gave, so I give'
The hard part is that we have never bought them Christmas presents -
but they get a TON from all our loving family.
We did tell our families we have all we need, but of course they still
showered us with blessings.
Also, we have never directly addressed Santa Claus. We see him in
Christmas movies, but we haven't said, 'this gift is from him.'
Then we went to a play @ the Interactive Theater that gave a history
of St Nicholas with the message of it is all about giving... But
ending with the normal Santa still alive @ the north pole.
So about 2 weeks ago, Holden tells Bella, 'Jesus is fake.'
I said, 'Holden, why did you say that?'
Holden: 'Cuz Santa's pretend, and Johnny (our 'Elf on the Shelf') is
fake, so Jesus is too.'
This was Joel's greatest fear realized. I did not hesitate to kill
Santa and the Elf. Salvation was at stake.
Me: 'Johnny is fake. And St Nick was a nice old man 100's of years
ago, and he is dead. But Jesus is alive, your creator and your
salvation.'
This pretty much shaped the rest of our Christmas. No more silliness.
Fortunately, my mom was thinking along the same lines.
We started a new tradition. While the rest of the children waited for
Santa Christmas Eve, we took blankets, socks filled with goodies, and
hot soup to homeless men on the streets of Houston. And this time,
Holden said, 'I'm being just like Jesus, feeding people.'
And I said, 'just like St Nick copied Jesus, too.'
