I am on vacation at Myrtle Beach. If any of you bloggers out there are here at Myrtle, I encourage you to get in touch with me at the Sea Mist. But, as I am here, I am not in a place where I have continued internet service in my room. I have to go to the lobby of the hotel to use the internet. Gail has allowed me to do this because she knows that this is important to me. She also knows that I needed to do some internet work in order to get our churches newsletter out on time. I am placing this post and will not be able to respond on a consistent basis until after Saturday. However, do not let that stop you. Go ahead and leave some comments and give me some insight on how you are raising your children. I need all the help I can get.
When Gail and I got married we determined that when children came along we were not going to fabricate Christmas. Thus when Rebekah came along we told her there was a Saint Nick and we told her the story of the old fat man. We told her that she could tell those in the Santa Claus outfits what she wanted for Christmas but she prayed to Jesus and it was Jesus that determined what she got for Christmas. Thus, the Santa mystery became one of some truth, but certainly remained focused on the real meaning. We wondered how we were doing and tried very hard to maintain the mystery, but we tried extremely hard to keep Jesus at the center.
This year we found out exactly how well we were doing. I take Rebekah to school every day and it provides valuable time for us to discuss various issues. About two weeks before Chrismas Rebekah raised a question, regarding how the gifts just showed up, concerning who was the real Santa Claus. I told her that I have not ever told her anything wrong and if she really wanted to know then I would tell her. She told me she really wanted to know so I told her that it was her mother and I. But, I told her that when she stopped believing then Santa stopped making rounds. She told me it did not work that way. Thus, the following story reveals to you the lesson I learned from my little girl that tells me we believe we are on the right road.
Rebekah asked for a number of items for Christmas. Gail and I felt that a new 24″ bicycle was something that we could swing along with a set of story books a new Bible that she was asking for and a telescope. The bicycle was placed at one of our members homes because Rebekah was searching the closets and attic in our home back in October to verify her suspicions as to who played the part of Santa on Christmas eve. With that in mind, Gail and I arranged something that truly opened my eyes as to Rebekah’s Spiritual growth. We returned home late on Christmas Eve and Rebekah went straight to bed. Gail remained up and placed candy, a Webkins animal, and a deodorant stick in her stocking. We placed a specialized Hannah Montana shirt outside and that was all that Santa placed out for her.
She slept with us and awakened at 3 am and we told her to go back to sleep. Our alarm went off at 6 am and she asked could we go ahead and get up. We all went to the living room and she was so excited. We all opened our gifts and she discovered Santa’s presents. Much to our surprise, she never questioned if there was anything else. She just turned to us and said; “Dad, are you going to read the Christmas Story?” I responded that I wanted her to do the honors this year and we sat down and read Luke 2. I asked her a number of times if she got everything she wanted and she responded that she got what Jesus wanted her to have.
Well, the plans were already in motion and could not be stopped. At 8:30 am the couple that had the bicycle called telling Rebekah that Santa made a mistake and left something there with her name on it. When we got in the car to leave, I had to go back in the house to get something and then I laid out the books, telescope and other items we got for her. She got to the other house and saw the bicycle and was very excited. Then when we went home she walked in to see the rest of the treasures laid out on the floor in the living room. Again she screamed like a little girl does and was excited for her gifts.
What did I learn? Rebekah was content with just a shirt, deodarant stick, and a webkins animal. We have told her time after time that Christmas is not about what we get but what we give. She was more excited to make certain that she read the Christmas story out of her new Bible, with friends that we exchanged gifts later on Christmas day, than she was to ride her new Bicycle. Does this mean that Rebekah will now grow up and not get into the wrong crowd? No! Does it mean that Gail and I have done our job and we now can stop praying for her? No! Exactly what does this mean? To me, this means that my work is on course and I need to be more diligent than ever before to keep my family focused on Jesus. Pray for us as Gail and I strive to keep our little girl focused on who Jesus is and how He changes lives.
