Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Dear Santa -

This is one evil world we live in. This world will lie to our faces and deceive us with false teachings of all kinds. I'm sure you can understand that it is my God-given job to protect my children. That protection includes my husband and I being two of the only people in this whole world that will ALWAYS tell our children the truth. About everything. No matter what.

Santa, it is our conviction that because you really don't exist, we'd be lying to our children to say that you do. Plain and simple....we just can't do it. We just DON'T do it.

Your face is everywhere...you're hard to ignore. Your songs are fun and your movies can be heart-warming...but you are no more real to our kids than Cinderella or Lightning McQueen.

Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas, Santa.

God sent His one and only Son to be the Savior of the world!!

He is the most important gift in the world...HE is the true magic of Christmas!!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14

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14 comments:

Chris said...

AMEN... good for you guys. Children should always be able to trust their parents. So hard to do in this season when we every checkout girl at Walmart wants to know what "santa" is bringing to every child and truthful parents are treated like villians.

Tina said...

We do not do Santa either, and I am glad we don't. We get some of the strangest looks when people ask if Santa is coming to our house, and my 4 yr. old says no. He then tells them that Santa isn't real. I have to, occasionally, remind him that we are celebrating b/c of Jesus and then he will tell them. My kids have seen Santa, b/c he is everywhere, and b/c of that they know who he is. It is so nice to know that, they know the true reason we celebrate.
I'm not sure how old your kids are, but a few years ago we received for a gift "What God Wants for Christmas?" It is so neat and our kids love it. For 7 days, leading up to Christmas, each night you read a little story about a person in the nativity. On the seventh night, they find a mirror, b/c God wants them for Christmas. My kids were so excited, each night to see wahat was in each little box.
Oh, did I mention we don't do the easter bunny either. That's a post for another day.
Merry CHRISTmas!!!

Jen said...

Wow, Kudos to you. My husband is a firm believer that we won't lie to our kids either. I'd be the Santa pusher in our home. But when they ask... I tell them the truth. 3 out of 4 kids know in our house. And when I break the news, I tell them that Santa is a symbol of Christmas, just like the tree. He symbolizes the spirit of giving. We do a secret Santa to a family in our neighborhood every year and the kids love playing Santa to someone else for a night. We focus on the true meaning of Christmas and Santa brings one gift. I can't have him getting all the credit! But I admit...I love the movies and the songs and everything else associated with Santa!

Lizzie said...

I agree with Jen, I don't think there is anything wrong with Santa, as long as you explain he is a symbol of Christmas like the tree, and explain who Santa really was, a man who helped Children. I will not lie to my kids though, and I agree his in the category of fairies and princesses... I know Santa isn't real, but it doesn't take away the magic of Christmas for me!

rthling said...

Oh, oh, oh! I am so stealing this and sharing it on facebook!
You are amazing, and I'm proud of you for standing up for your kids.
Merry Christmas!
I love you!

Anonymous said...

LOVE IT! We totally agree with you too, which is why we have never done Santa.

Kelli said...

What a wonderful post!!! I love it!

Oh Dear said...

We explained this concept to our chldren in that God meets all of our needs so not to interfere with other families choices. We have the same excitement as any other famiy but do so Christ centered! In fact, we even change it up celebrating as if we are the Wise Men, shepherds, and even do Las Posadas with the children. This year's celebration will be even more special as we celebrate the first Christmas of our son asking Jesus into his heart.

I asked the kids if there was a Santa what would they ask for. Our 5 year old began her list, our 8 year old said, 10 DSis. I asked why 10 and he said one for him and the rest for friends. We asked 26 month old and she said, Bible. Our oldest looked at me and said, "I think she gets it."

With that being said, Happy Birthday Jesus to you and your family!

Joy in the Journey! said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joy in the Journey! said...

Interesting how some folks believe it is okay to lie to their chidren. I wonder if those same children lie to their parents about breaking a toy or hitting a sibling, if the parent just says "alrighty then, thanks for telling me a story because you wanted to avoid punishment," DOUBTFUL.

Magic of Christmas - the only "magic of Christmas" was God sending his son to a virgin into this sinful world, so that he would grow up and die on the cross for my sins, and my childrens sins. THAT is the magic of Christmas, not Santa, not a tree, or stockings filled with whatever.

Why not life for Christ and show your children what Christ calls us to and how he calls us to live for him? Why not have Christ as our example, rather than a human who lived on this earth, who was a sinner just like you and me?

JMBMOMMY said...

Amen and Amen!!!! Couldn't agree more!!! Had to answer some hard Questions for our little girl...since all the other kids do believe...not one other than her in her 1st grade class knew the truth. Ugh. She ask me .. why would all these other parents lie to their children mom? Hard Q's. I am glad to know I am not alone.

JMBMOMMY said...

Just read the other comments--I wanted to add how important I think it is to stress to our children not to judge others about Santa. I want my children to show others love-period. Also, for me it isn't a matter of what is right or wrong exactly--it is a matter of what is more beneficial. I explained to my daugther that Satan is so pleased when we do wrong..but he is just as happy when we are simply distracted. Distractions can be ok but when they turn our focus on something other than Christ--it is not the most beneficial for us. I hope to keep our children facing Christ during the Christmas season.

Becky said...

Amen sister!
I love what my oldest said...she is at her dad's and called to say what she got for Christmas...his side of the family always has presents from Santa...so I asked her what she got from Santa and her answer was "Nothing silly...but do you wanna know what I got from daddy?" Loved it!

Jana @sidetrackd said...

You expressed my thoughts so well that I immediately told Matt he had to read your post. We were amazed at how much "Santa" Little gleaned from books, tv, and hearing people talk this year.