I openly condone Santa. If you follow the Bible you know. My husband and children are not born again but I have faith they will see God's love through my behavior.
I don't believe in Christmas stockings for the tale falls back on the lie of santa.
I would like to have three boxes/trunks that I decorate with gold ribbon and in rememberance of the gifts the three wise men bestowed on him .... have a large box, a medium box, a small box .... and place those "stocking gifts" in those.
My husband will not allow me to take down the stockings. I will not fight or argue since he disagreed with my feelings on this. I will only leave the stockings and place my gifts to the children in the boxes. My children know the lie of Santa and why I don't practice it in our home. I don't like lies. I will raise honest children through Christ.
Do you think this is a good idea. My spirit says yes because this act is of a kind heart and I do not want anything that would be idolatry or a lie. Love
2007-12-18 05:42:40 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
We also have a birthday party for Jesus at Church (Momof2 mentioned this). A few points I would like to add:
No where in the Bible does it say there were three wise men. The wise men probably traveled in a group of about 40. They didn't arrive at Jesus' birth. Jesus was not born in December, shepards would not have been in the fields that late in the year (probably September makes more sense). The early Church choose December to give Christians a celebration in response to a non-christian celebration that was happening at that time. I could continue but my point is many of the Christian traditions concerning Christmas are made up.
We have three children and we use Christmas, presents, stockings and St. Nick to teach them what Jesus is all about - sharing love. Saint Nicholas helped the poor but didn't want the children to know it was him - he was humble. What can be more Jesus like than helping the poor without fanfare? What a great example to teach your children about helping others. As each child gets older, you can give them more details of the meaning of Christmas.
No young child can put all the pieces together, even adults have trouble with the meaning of Christmas. Be excited, be joyous, go with the flow and nurture your children with God's love.
2007-12-20 01:21:58 · answer #1 · answered by NSS 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a Christian. I have a two year old and a four year old. I remind my 4 year old that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus whenever she gets too hyped up about getting gifts. We're going to a "Happy Birthday Jesus" celebration with other moms and kids from our church this week. We also have a Birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Day. I think it's very important to teach our children what Christmas is really about - the birth of Christ. But for me, I don't think I should deny them the right to be kids and experience the traditions that have come about. I try to downplay Santa in our house. But my kids do get some presents and a stocking filled from Santa and we had a picture taken with Santa, Mrs. Claus and a reindeer this past weekend. When they are old enough to understand, I will explain that Santa Claus is a tradition, not a real person and tell them the story of St. Nicholas.
I think that it is possible to combine the teachings of the Bible with traditions that have come about. A book that I have that helps me do this is The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel.
I was brought up in a Christian family who celebrated Christmas with Santa, stockings, a Christmas tree, etc. I think that if I didn't let my children celebrate that way too, they would miss out on the fun and resent me. I don't think that it is against God to celebrate in this way as long as we teach our children what Christmas really means.
I think you should do what you feel God wants you to do as far as celebrating Christmas with your family. But I don't think it would hurt you to look at the history of the traditions - such as the stockings coming from the story of St. Nick leaving gold coins that fell in a stocking that was hanging by the fireplace to dry. It's not a story from the Bible but it's a TRADITION that grew out of the story of a good Christian man who was trying to help the poor.
2007-12-18 22:54:00 · answer #2 · answered by Momof2 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't like lying either, and I raised my daughter without lying to her about Santa. I told her frankly that the Santa story was based on Saint Nicholas, who made a practice of giving anonymous gifts, sometimes, yes, dropping them down chimneys. He did this because of his love for God and his compassion for God's people. We have a tradition of pretending he brings us gifts. [One charming result of this approach was, that "Santa" sometimes brought me a present too!]
What do you mean your husband won't let you take the stockings down? What's wrong with having Wise Men's gift boxes instead? That sounds cool. For that matter, what's wrong with putting presents in a stocking. What difference does it make? I assume you're not telling the kids that the Wise Men are bringing presents? It's all a group of traditions to celebrate the birth of Christ.
But if you are upsetting your husband by changing the traditions, that doesn't seem appropriate for the Christmas Spirit. The main point is not how the presents are displayed, but the joy and gratitude with which we celebrate our Savior's birth.
2007-12-18 14:00:18 · answer #3 · answered by The First Dragon 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you are blowing this a little out of proportion. However, I think your idea about the trunks is a great one. Since the general function would serve the same as a stocking, I wonder why your husband is against it. Is he that attached to stockings?
Just for the record, I teach my son the true meaning of Christmas, but I do the Santa thing too. Santa serves the purpose of getting kids excited about Christmas. Little kids (my son is 4) cannot grasp the excitement of it solely being the Birth of Christ. For little ones, you have to dress it up a little, and there's nothing wrong with that so long as it eventually leads to the right thing.
2007-12-18 13:48:13 · answer #4 · answered by Tasha 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You need to read "The Christmas Stocking". It is about where the tradition of the stocking came from. It was about how Saint Nicholas (where santa claus came from) would go around placing gifts in stockings to show how God gave the most important gift in His Son Jesus Christ and how we could show His love by giving gifts to remember His sacrifice. It is a true story about a man who Loved Jesus and wanted to share the good news of salvation through God's Son, His gift to us, so that we could be forgiven.
2007-12-18 13:55:38 · answer #5 · answered by Jen 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, it is not a good idea. They are kids, let them have some fun and believe in Santa for a little while. Santa is not a lie. He is a myth made up to bring joy to little kids. Your husband should not let you take down the stockings.
2007-12-18 13:49:15 · answer #6 · answered by The Oracle of Delphi 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We Christian tend to use Santa as a decroration. I know dressing up as Santa is ok but the main bottemline is that Jesus Christ is more important than Santa and He is the real present giver.
2007-12-18 13:48:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm not a christian but I think that's a really good idea. I don't see anything wrong with it other than it not being traditional.
2007-12-18 13:48:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Thank goodness for your children that they have their father.
see you at the Kingdom Hall.
2007-12-18 13:51:43 · answer #9 · answered by Gorgeoustxwoman2013 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
take it another step and stop subjecting them to the lie of Christianity.
2007-12-18 13:50:18 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 5⤋