Saying Goodbye to Santa

When our kids were young, we pretended that Santa brought some presents. He even put his own signature on the gifts he gave. We didn't want to lie to the kids and make them think Santa was real. We knew that if we did that, the day would arrive when they would realize there is no Santa. They might then wonder what else they had been taught that was also a lie. So we told them there was no Santa - but we all pretended there was (strange logic, I know). I still have Santa ornaments and figures. My very most favorite is a Mr. and Mrs. Santa kissing couple. It is the cutest thing ever! But, this year we are saying goodbye to Santa for good. I know I could someday teach Grace about good ol' St. Nick and his love and generosity. But I feel I have no time for this as I now know first-hand how fast children grow into adults. We have so little time to teach them precious truth. Christmas is about the birth of the Savior. It's about the redemption of God's people. It's about the arrival of the King and His kingdom. It's about God's love and His generosity (His grace). When I watch Grace grow up, I want to see the sparkle in her eyes when she comes to understand God's redemptive plan and the huge sacrifice He made in giving His only Son. I don't want her to be self-absorbed with thoughts of, "What will Santa bring ME tonight?" How to do this, I'm not sure, yet. But, I know it begins with saying goodbye to Santa - even the cutest ever kissing Mr. and Mrs. Santa! It continues with putting actions with my faith and going out of my comfort zone with people.

I know it has a lot to do with these verses in Philippians -

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:3-8

Grace won't have the warm memories of the secular Christmas music I grew up with nor the "fun" of anticipating Santa, so she won't miss our old traditions (we'll just create new ones for her!)... It's me who has to let go of these things! I don't know yet what other warm memories and traditions we will develop in place of Santa. I have some ideas, but it will be an adventure to see where the Lord leads us. For now we will keep the tree and stockings, but Mr. and Mrs. Santa will go. Stockings are kind of related to Santa aren't they? Hmmmm.... That may be the next thing to go, but not this year. Joey and David are 14 and 15 (although they look like 17 and 18 year olds) but they love stockings like 6 and 7 year olds! I would still want to do candy and fun presents but put them in something other than a stocking maybe? How about a manger? Would that be weird? I don't know, we'll see...

I'm excited to discover the new traditions that I know the Lord will teach me by His spirit. It's hard to say goodbye to comfortable things which have warm memories. But, as Paul says in Philippians, "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13a-14).