Merry Christmas & A visit with Santa

I know there are so many varied opinions out there about how Christians should and shouldn't celebrate the Christmas season. There are many "religious" customs and then "pagan" customs, as a parent it is really hard to decipher which ones to accept, embrace, make traditions, etc.

First and foremost, we will undoubtedly be teaching our children that the TRUE reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birthday of our Savior, Jesus Christ. That is of utmost importance to us and that will never change. Brian and I know and understand that the best gift of all was Christ, who was sent here to Earth to bare our sins and provide us everlasting life. He was God incarnate, Emmanuel, “God with us.” What a great sacrifice! I think about my own precious children and can't imagine how Mary and Joseph must have felt knowing that their son would be the Savior of the world and would eventually die for them, for me, for all sinners. What a selfless, perfect, wonderful gift! Brian and I sincerely hope and pray that you will know that true gift this season and if you haven't, you will accept it today. Jesus was born and died for YOU! A free gift and when accepted, it will grant eternal rest with Him in Heaven. This is why we really celebrate, this is why we can sing praises to the Father during Christmas time especially!

Second, Christmas is a time for not only believing in Christ and the gift that He was to us, but also a time for believing in the goodness of others, believing in Hope for a better tomorrow, Peace, and Love. So, with that said, we will certainly be teaching our children about St. Nicholas and the real meaning of generous giving. The true story of St. Nicholas was that he was a devout Christian and he embraced Jesus' teaching of "sell what you own and give the money to the poor."

Of course the legend of Santa Claus has been told through the centuries and wrapped up into the Christmas Season. As a teacher and witnessing the innocence that children now-a-days lose so young, I am not opposed to a little imagination when it comes to Christmas traditions. Clearly Sierra is still much too young to understand the concept of Santa Claus, but that doesn't mean that we can't begin sharing it with her now. As she grows and begins to ask questions, we will see at that point how much we want to tell her (i.e. - a jolly 'ole elf who comes down your chimney, etc.) Right now though, Santa is a real joy for little imaginations and we intend to build on that imagination. I came across this book recently and I intend to purchase it, it certainly does look good and insightful - "St. Nicholas: A closer look at Christmas".

Now with all that said, I wanted to share with you all some pictures that I took during our visit with Santa this year. Sierra wasn't too sure about the nice old man sitting in the chair, but she did eventually warm up long enough to sit next to him and smile - much thanks to the lady at the mall with the puppet trying to make her laugh! The Santa exhibit is very large at the mall that we go to and the whole theme is "The Polar Express" - so of course there are trains and whistles and lots of fun things for kids to look at. Sierra especially liked the life-size snow globe that actually had snow falling from the top. She and her friend Jordan danced around in there for a while as we were waiting in line. Oh the joys of being a child!!!

And just because I am feeling nostalgic these days for Sierra's "baby" moments, here is her picture with Santa from last year (@ 8 Months Old)! :)

From our family to yours, we pray that you have a VERY Merry Christmas, filled with many of God's blessings!!!