It's Not About Santa, It's About Jesus

(Pictured above is Santa kneeling beside baby Jesus, apologizing and asking Jesus for his forgiveness because he didn't mean to "replace" or over power Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas)

Getting ready to clean the house and I look under the tree at the presents and think

"Why?"

We get carried away when shopping for The kids for Christmas. All we think of is how their faces will light up and the squeals that will insue when they open the presents Christmas morning. 

We get excited at the thought and it drives us to go overboard. We don't think about all the time we will spend trying to get the kids to pick up their toys and clean their rooms. We don't think about the pain or the explitives that will come pouring out of our mouths when we step on tiny peices of toys that were forgotten until that very moment. 

And then we ask ourselves if we are teaching our children right. 

Do the presents and Santa over power and mask the true meaning of Christmas? 

Do they realize the importance of this day?

Do they realize that, like the song from the church play Lanie participated in, you can't have Christmas without Jesus and you can't have Christmas without the cross?

I think Lanie is starting to understand but is it enough? Will she ever know truely? What can I do to help? 

We're guilty of not going to church often enough. Of not showing our children the way soon enough. We are guilty of making excuses. 

In the last 6 months to a year, we've (I've) been trying to change that. I've encouraged Lanie to get more involved in church by participating in the kids programs and making friends who also go to church. I find when you have someone whome you share interest with, like God band church, then you get more involved with those activities because you have someone at your side. It's a start to changing and atoning for the lack of God and worship in the past.

We've always believed in God and taught our kids about all God has done for us but it wasn't enough. Not if presents and Santa ovetbear and mask the true meaning of Christmas. 

We can't forget to teach our children the story of when Jesus was born. Or to remind them what He did for us all. 

(Pictured above is Elfie our Elf on the Shelf wrapped in Santa paper with a book he brought the kids from the North Pole and Santa about the Story of Jesus). 

'Just before Jesus went up to Heaven, he appeared to his disciples and told them to travel to faraway places and teach people to obey his words. "And I will be with you always." Promised Jesus, "until the end of the world."'

(From 'The Story Of Jesus' by Jane Werner Watson, written in a way children can understand Jesus's, birth, life, death, rebirth and love for all)

Live Reindeer Feed With Santa and Elves

          Yesterday I volunteered in Lanie's class at the end of the day for their "Christmas Party". Her teacher had a Live feed of Santa's reindeer on the big screen for the kids. We're talking real life reindeer. Not the animated stuff. The kids loved it. Every now and again a computer generated elf would pop up on the screen and the kids would laugh until they were doubled over.
          I made sure to get the website from her so that I could check in on them and show Liam. Last night I logged in so that Liam could see. He thought it was the coolest thing ever. "Santa's reindeer! WOW! Cool!". Yes it was, but that wasn't the coolest part. Not two minutes after we started watching, a real elf came on the screen and started talking to the reindeer over the fence. You can imagine how much these two kids freaked out.
          I'd say that was the coolest thing, but it wasn't. Not 5 minutes after we started watching guess to else made an appearance? Santa!! The kids were thrilled, squiling and yelling in utter delight. We watched as Santa fed the two male reindeer then proceeded to pet them and talk to them. After he checked his mailbox. Now my internet was bogging down so we weren't the best of the feed, but it looked and sounded like Santa read a letter from someone. It was awesome.

          Just when we thought he was done, he got a chair and took a book out of the mailbox and read a Christmas story to everyone. My kids enjoyed listening to Santa's story (even if my internet was slow). After Santa read the story he told everyone to be good, and for all the kids to say their prayers before bedtime. That right there folks, that had me hooked. In this day and age, religion is being taken out of just about everything, but not this Santa. Nope. He's standing up for his beliefs and I love that my kids were able to hear Santa, someone they look up too, say that he too believes in God.
          Santa will be making another appearance tonight at 6pm, and my kids are excited. You can tune in as well and share the magic of Santa and his reindeer with your little ones http://reindeercam.com I won't be taking Liam to the mall to see Santa. I'm still weary of taking into crowded places for fear that he might catch some virus and have another setback. I was sad that I didn't feel comfortable enough to do this and that he was going to miss out. This is the first year he's really seemed interested in Santa. They must have been learning about Santa as school because Liam gets all excited when someone says Santa or he sees something with Santa on it. That made me sadder. However finding Reindeer Cam has allowed us to keep the magic of Santa and his reindeer going for the kids.
 

        I had made magic reindeer food and handed it out to the kids in Lanie's class as well as a few of her friends from other classes. It's just oatmeal and glitter but it brought the kids so much joy thinking that they can leave out a treat for Santa's reindeer. After watching this feed, they were even more excited to see who they were leaving the treat out for. I am thankful that the people behind Reindeer Cam are doing what they are doing to help share the Christmas magic that so many have lost.