He's Dead in Our House! Is He in Yours?

Well, I realized today while shopping with the children for groceries, running errands, that Christmas is upon the retail world already. I always approach the season with mixed emotions. I am thrilled to have the upcoming celebration of Jesus' birth! It makes me so excited and full of joy, I cannot even explain it. On the other hand, my compassion for the unsaved runs deep and it saddens me greatly that this will be just another holiday to celebrate materialism for most.

My children know that there once was a man named St. Nicholas, and they know the accompanying story behind all of it and how the celebration of Santa Claus came to light. We do not, however, participate in the whole "Santa" lie. Call me calloused. Call me no fun. I call it reality and keeping the focus on Jesus. Do they have stockings? Yes. Do we pretend that it's "Santa"? I guess, but they know it's mommy and daddy that do the filling. We tell them that we practice the "keeping the Santa spirit alive" which is the spirit of giving from the heart, a man long time ago that gave from his heart with love. The real day though is Jesus Christ's birthday! We make a birthday cake on Christmas Eve and celebrate the best birthday of all! The only birthday that will bring us to Heaven!

We try to constantly talk about the spirit of giving because on this important upcoming Christmas day God gave His only son to us to save us. I fight the urge to LOATHE going to the grocery from November 1 through January 1 because it's just full of people piling in STUFF in their carts seeking to fill some worldly void to their children when the best gift they could ever give their child this season is the gift of salvation.

Do my children get a lot of gifts for Christmas? Yes. Are they spoiled? Yes. Are they spoiled brats? No. :) They also have to choose a gift to bring unwrapped to give to donation. I do this for every holiday and also birthday. If we are to tithe 10 percent of our income and blessings the Lord pours out to us, then the least I can do is ask my children to give one gift away out of the 30 they will receive from us and relatives. It's interesting to always watch what gift they pick to give and how in actuality they are EXCITED to bring the gift to Goodwill or another donation dropoff we choose.

Compassion is not something we are born with. I think a heart of compassion is taught and nurtured. Let's please remember the season of giving, not the season of getting! God is so good. He is so gracious to give us such a beautiful gift, the birth of Jesus.