You only get to introduce your child to Christmas once. We want to do it well. Not cut any corners. Not sell it short.
Today we had a Christmas event with our refugee kids. In thinking and planning on how to possibly explain Christmas to a bunch of kids who don't know Jesus and weren't raised in America, we spent a lot of time analyzing what a typical American Christmas would look like to a kid.
When we stepped back and analyzed Christmas through this lens, we didn't like what we saw. GREED. SELFISHNESS. MATERIALISM.
When did Christmas become so shallow and petty?
Why is the birth of Christ not reason enough to celebrate? We have to add Santa and reindeer and elves and LIE to our kids about the true meaning of Christmas. These things are so innocent and seem harmless, but from our perspective, anything that sells Jesus short of who He is and what He sacrificed, is just interference.
We want our kids to know and cherish this time, not because of what is under the tree, but because of the Father who sent His Son, and the Son who came to give His life.
We're not crazy. We will have a Christmas tree. We will give our kids gifts. But we will limit the amount of secular hoop-la. We will limit the Christmas gift giving. We will give more than we receive. We will worship Jesus. And we will try to forever instill the wonder of the season.
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| Henry's first Christmas lights |
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