The Art of Pretending...

My children are great pretenders.  Here they are "making believe" that they are cooking a fabulous Christmas dinner.  They know it's not real food...but they are "attempting to cause it to be so" in their imaginations. They "act out" tasting the food...but their bellies aren't actually filled.

In a world where Jesus, the way, THE TRUTH, and the life, is considered just a relative thing...I need to be careful.  Because, is it pretending if only WE know the TRUTH?  We as parents KNOW Santa is "make believe"...but if we tell our children he is real...aren't we tricking them? 

I remember...riding in the car with my Dad...many moons ago...and asking if Santa was real.  My Dad said, "Well, how do we know what is true?" My answer came from what my family had already taught me.  "Well, it would be in the Bible, right?"  My Dad agreed.  I said, "Is Santa in the Bible?"  My Dad said, "No, he's not."  AND THAT WAS IT...not major disappointments...just TRUTH.

I hope that I am equally prepared for just such a wonderful and openly honest discussion...I don't want to risk whether "they'll figure out what's real eventually"...I want to ALWAYS point to truth and where it comes from...GOD'S WORD.

This is heavy on my mind...I was just faced with a man a few weeks back who, TRULY, no jokes folks, said that he could find no more proof of God's existence than he could for the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.  OUCH!  Among other things, he said, "Have you ever seen him?" and then he sang..."He knows if you are sleeping, He knows if you're awake, He knows if you've been bad or good...so be good for goodness sake."  UGH, cringe!  I shared my sadness for his disillusionment and my heart's desire that he learn of The Truth that I know from God's Word.

We share the story of Saint Nicolas and his generous spirit in giving to poor children....so they know how such traditions start...but we all know that any packages marked, "FROM SANTA" on Christmas day are just pretend....because Christmas in our home....is about celebrating Jesus, the Christ's birth. 

And maybe even more important...every day life is about Him too!  Day in and day out...every day of the year we are striving to teach them these truths.

As my children open gifts, at any time of the year, I want them to know about the ONE TRUE GIFT.  The MOST IMPORTANT GIFT ... Jesus...who grew up...and died for the sins of the world.  AND... 
1 Cor. 15:3-4, "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures"  Yes, at Easter Bunny time...we share that too...HE IS RISEN!!