Circle the answer: What’s the Meaning of Christmas for Your Child?

A. Santa
B. Jesus
C. Presents

Upon having children, Brad and I suddenly got hit with the responsibility of making a decision for how we were going to handle the Santa-myth of Christmas. We began with Zachary just 6 months old and sitting on Santa’s lap thinking that we had time before we needed to make a decision. The following year, we made the decision that we would allow Santa in the home but the emphasis would always be on Christ and the gifts given would not be disguised as coming from Santa. For a couple of years we were blessed by a Christian man that dressed up as Santa and visited homes to collect donations for the local crisis pregnancy center. We welcomed him to our home and provided him with a book to read to the children about the true meaning of Christmas while having a birthday party for Jesus. Since moving from Prescott, we no longer have this Santa visit, but I assure you that the anticipation for Christmas is still full in our home.

Here are some of the ways that we have intentionally made Christ the center of Christmas for our family:

• We have chosen to give our children a historical lesson on Santa. We discovered an informative little board book, Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer and have used it every year. This book serves as an inspiration to reach out to those in need and partners well with projects like Angel Tree or Operation Shoe Box.

• There’s no Santa-myth in our home. Our children are fully aware that the man in the Santa costume at the mall is pretending to be Santa. They have no expectation that Santa is “keeping a list and checking it twice” nor do they anticipate that he is going to enter our home in the midst of the night bearing gifts. Why? We feel very strongly that we must be honest with our children. If I want them to believe the Bible and all of the happenings that took place within it (many of which seem far more outlandish than Santa flying across the sky with reindeer) then I never want to risk that they would equate my faith in God to be just another fairy tale like Santa Claus. Simply put- it is wrong for me to deceive my children when I expect truthfulness in all circumstances from them.

• When people ask “Are you ready for Santa?” or “Are you on Santa’s nice list?” our children politely reply “We are excited to celebrate Jesus’ birthday” or something similar in nature. It’s not in judgment or correction- just a simple answer that allows them to respond without having to create a confrontation. This also provides a great opening for presenting the gospel.

• Presents. We do exchange presents but it is not a huge event (at least in our immediate family). We don’t spend outlandish sums of money on brand-new toys. Rather, this year I found a couple of items for each of our children at the local thrift shop and wrapped them up. I have heard people gasp at the thought of giving a used present saying that it would be such a disappointment. If I ever see such displeasure in my children’s eyes when receiving a gift given out of love then I assure you that will be the end of presents. I value the fact that my children know how hard their father works to provide for our family. It is also important to me that when gifts are received from others outside of our family that the children acknowledge that and thank that person directly. What a great opportunity for teaching gratitude.

• Decorations. Zachary loves to prepare for any holiday and with the help of Jonathan the two of them typically take care of decorating the house with pictures that they’ve drawn. We also decorate a Christmas tree with ornaments that give reminders of Jesus (homemade dough nativity ornaments). The tree provides an opportunity to talk about how Christ was crucified on a tree to save us from our sins.

• Cookies. What would Christmas be like without sharing cookies? We enjoy making a set of nativity cookies for neighbors and friends attaching a little note about Jesus being the reason for the season. Handing out a gospel tract would work well with this too.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year- I treasure the anticipation as we celebrate the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to you!