“Daddy…is Santa Claus real?”
Oh boy, talk about getting into trouble. It seems as if there’s no way to deal with this issue without making someone mad.
Our children were around 3 and 4 when I received the Lord. My salvation resulted in a radical change in the way that I saw things and the way that I lived my life. As a result my “radar”, so to speak, was turned on and I became very aware of circumstances in the culture. I praise God that it also led to me becoming more outgoing in sharing my faith.
I’ll never forget one occasion when I challenged a Barnes and Noble bookstore manager. They were selling a book in his store that taught pedophile’s how to molest children and not get caught by the police.
They were also selling a book called the “Anarchist Cookbook” which taught people how to make bombs and booby traps. Man, did we have a conversation! He was not happy with me and I wasn’t happy with him. He wouldn’t take the books out of the store, but he did take the “Anarchist Cookbook” and put it behind the checkout desk so someone had to request it and couldn’t just pick it up while browsing. I’ve never bought another book from Barnes and Noble since!
Well, a couple of years later my wife and I were having conversations on how we were going to handle various situations now that I was a Christian and the Santa Claus question was one of the issues we discussed.
How were we going to talk with our children about Santa? We decided that we couldn’t intentionally lie to our children, so we were going to tell them the truth, and we did. Our reasoning was that as they got older and finally figured out that Santa wasn’t real they might wonder what else mom and dad had lied to them about. Maybe the whole God thing wasn’t real either because mom and dad lied about one thing, why not another?
We also made it very clear that they weren’t supposed to go to school and fight with their friends about the issue. They couldn’t lie about it if they were asked, and were to speak the truth. But, it wasn’t a necessary argument to be had.
Did we do the right thing??
All I know is this, we still have an amazing relationship with our children. We speak openly and honestly about issues. I most definitely made mistakes as a father and still do. I try to be the first one to admit the mistake though and accept responsibility for whatever I’ve done. It’s an example that we can set as a parent and grandparent. No, as a responsible person.
I look at our children today and see the way that they’re raising our grandchildren. They’re amazing families, they love the Lord and teach that Christmas is meant as a time to remember the fact that Christ did come to earth. And He did so for the simple fact that He could die for us. To me Easter is when we celebrate!
Yes, we know that December 25th isn’t His actual birthday. Yes, we know the Bible doesn’t teach there were necessarily three wise men and that they arrived the day of our Saviors birth as well as all other issues that have become a part of “tradition” and not necessarily true. We talk about those things and teach them what we know and what we think and what is just plain speculation.
Some of the things that we know are this. Christ WAS born, He lived a sinless life, He set an example for us to follow, and He loved us so much that He died for us while we rejected Him.
We pray that you make sure to teach your family the truth about Christ and His Word! Let’s raise a generation to be discerners of truth and lovers of His Word.
Stay Bold!
Carl Kerby
Our children were around 3 and 4 when I received the Lord. My salvation resulted in a radical change in the way that I saw things and the way that I lived my life. As a result my “radar”, so to speak, was turned on and I became very aware of circumstances in the culture. I praise God that it also led to me becoming more outgoing in sharing my faith.
I’ll never forget one occasion when I challenged a Barnes and Noble bookstore manager. They were selling a book in his store that taught pedophile’s how to molest children and not get caught by the police.
They were also selling a book called the “Anarchist Cookbook” which taught people how to make bombs and booby traps. Man, did we have a conversation! He was not happy with me and I wasn’t happy with him. He wouldn’t take the books out of the store, but he did take the “Anarchist Cookbook” and put it behind the checkout desk so someone had to request it and couldn’t just pick it up while browsing. I’ve never bought another book from Barnes and Noble since!
Well, a couple of years later my wife and I were having conversations on how we were going to handle various situations now that I was a Christian and the Santa Claus question was one of the issues we discussed.
How were we going to talk with our children about Santa? We decided that we couldn’t intentionally lie to our children, so we were going to tell them the truth, and we did. Our reasoning was that as they got older and finally figured out that Santa wasn’t real they might wonder what else mom and dad had lied to them about. Maybe the whole God thing wasn’t real either because mom and dad lied about one thing, why not another?
We also made it very clear that they weren’t supposed to go to school and fight with their friends about the issue. They couldn’t lie about it if they were asked, and were to speak the truth. But, it wasn’t a necessary argument to be had.
Did we do the right thing??
All I know is this, we still have an amazing relationship with our children. We speak openly and honestly about issues. I most definitely made mistakes as a father and still do. I try to be the first one to admit the mistake though and accept responsibility for whatever I’ve done. It’s an example that we can set as a parent and grandparent. No, as a responsible person.
I look at our children today and see the way that they’re raising our grandchildren. They’re amazing families, they love the Lord and teach that Christmas is meant as a time to remember the fact that Christ did come to earth. And He did so for the simple fact that He could die for us. To me Easter is when we celebrate!
Yes, we know that December 25th isn’t His actual birthday. Yes, we know the Bible doesn’t teach there were necessarily three wise men and that they arrived the day of our Saviors birth as well as all other issues that have become a part of “tradition” and not necessarily true. We talk about those things and teach them what we know and what we think and what is just plain speculation.
Some of the things that we know are this. Christ WAS born, He lived a sinless life, He set an example for us to follow, and He loved us so much that He died for us while we rejected Him.
We pray that you make sure to teach your family the truth about Christ and His Word! Let’s raise a generation to be discerners of truth and lovers of His Word.
Stay Bold!
Carl Kerby
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