I am excited to have my friend Karen Ehman guest post today. She will be finishing up the Christmas Controversy series with a peek inside her own holiday traditions and how they chose to handle "Santa."

Christmas Traditions and Santa

When we became parents nearly a quarter century ago, my husband and I looked forward to making memories with our kids together, especially on holidays. However, once our firstborn became old enough to understand presents and celebrations, boy did the unsolicited opinions from family and friends start flying our way!

“Do NOT do Santa Claus with your daughter. She will grow up thinking Jesus isn’t real.”

“Please don’t deny your child the childhood thrill of Santa. She will grow up resenting you.”

“Christmas trees are pagan. If you put one up, you are participating in pagan worship.”

“Participating in all the traditions of Christmas is a great way to point your child to Jesus.”

“Don’t you realize that when you rearrange the letters in “Satan” you get “Santa”?

Arghhhhh!! What is a mom to do?

My husband and I quickly circled the yuletide wagons. We knew that no matter what we decided about Santa and tree--and even fruitcake, for crying out loud--we were sure to upset, and maybe anger, either our family or our friends.

Our families thought we were nuts to even contemplate a Christmas without the jolly old gentlemen at the center. Our friends were adamant that the secular trappings would lead our kids away from Jesus. And on each side of the argument, we saw extremes that threw up red flags for us.

It bothered my husband that one year, for a joke, his mom put switches and coal in his stocking while the other five siblings opened their socks full of surprises. Since he believed in Santa and had tried hard that year to be good since...well...”He knows if you’ve been good or bad...” {You know the drill} he was crushed!!! Of course his real stocking of treats was given to him a few minutes later, but those few minutes of rejection by Santa were devastating for a young child.

On the other side of the argument we saw actions just as disturbing. Like some friends of our from church who not only prohibited Santa, they banned the Easter Bunny too. So, when grandma and grandpa brought each of their four children (ages toddler through about eight) Easter baskets full of candy, they made the kids flush all the candy down the toilet since jelly beans and chocolate eggs had nothing to do with Jesus! And yes, grandma and grandpa knew what was happening. Not the best way to form bonds of love with the in-laws.

What my husband and I decided was this: we would search the scriptures and pray to God for our answers and not take our cues from either family or friends. Then, we would stick to our guns and not engage in combat over any differing opinions with any other parents we knew.

As a result, our family’s ways of celebrating fell right down the middle. We decided to look for Jesus in the midst of the traditions. If we could find Him, we did the tradition. If we couldn’t, we didn’t. If we felt the tradition required us to do something we felt was against scripture, we skipped it. The results looked something like this:

We do a Christmas tree. We make it a family activity and we see Jesus in the decorations.

The star at the top, signifying the one the Wise Men followed.

The sweetness of Jesus in the sugared-candy themed ornaments.

We pray for the persecuted church as we see our colored lights as many in prison for sharing their faith are forced to assemble Christmas lights.

As we bake for our neighbors, we share the love of Christ by attaching a tag with a Bible verse to the platters.

As we give gifts to each other, we remember the Christ Child who got three gifts when the Magi reached Him.

And then there is Santa. What we decided with this huge character of Christmas is this: {and we DO NOT have a problem with those who have decided otherwise}

We tell the truth and “play the game.”

We told our kids the story of the real St Nicolas and how different cultures around the world celebrate him at this time of year. Then, we told them that we thought he had a great idea about bringing gifts and stuffing stockings, and since he is no longer alive, we would “play St Nick” and bring them gifts. We also told them that some other families take “the game” a step further and tell their kids that Santa is real so they were not to ruin their fun by telling them otherwise.

This allowed us to see Jesus in the gift giving and stocking stuffing tradition of St Nick. Now that they are all 15-22 years old, none of them feel they missed out on anything nor do they feel they ever got Santa and Jesus mixed up.

For us the bottom line is this: seek Him. He is there. In the midst of the rich traditions you can find many ways to point your kids to Christ and enjoy the festivities that evoke such delight at this time of year.

Find what works for your family. Then rejoice. Be glad.

But be gracious toward others who celebrate differently.

 

Karen is the Director of Speaker Development for the Proverbs 31 Ministries' national speaking team and a featured speaker for Hearts at Home conferences for moms. She is the author of five books including A Life That Says Welcome: Simple Ways to Open Your Heart and Home to Others, The Complete Guide to Getting and Homespun Memories for the Heart. Her newest book is LET. IT. GO: How to Stop Running the Show & Start Walking in Faith which includes a companion DVD Bible study and workbook.

Karen blogs at proverbs31.com and karenehman.com.