Is He Real?

Since Jake was a baby, I have wanted him to believe in Santa. It made me sad to think about him not experiencing that "magic" of Christmas. I always said that we would keep it in perspective and not let it override the true meaning of Christmas. Well what I didn't count on as a young mom (I am still in this category by the way) was his little sinful heart that, like myself, wants life to be about ME!!! So this year when we started talking about Christmas all he wanted to talk about was Santa bringing him presents. This just did not sit well with my heart. So I began literally begging God to help me figure out how to make this season about HIM - ALL HIM but at the same time keeping that "magic" that comes with the idea of Santa clause. My heart so much desires to help the Lord to create a longing in my boys hearts for Him and His glory. I want to woo them on this earth and point them to the one who ultimately will woo their hearts forever. I am not naturally an emotional person and so I don't expect my walk with God or Christmas for that matter to be all emotional and "magical" but I do think that true love and passion can not exist without emotion some of the times. So that being said, I want the boys to love love love the Lord with all of their hearts and to be filled with passion for Him. From my experience, knowing Him more is what makes this happen.
So the Lord has begin to literally place what I needed to explain this to my son in my hands. I received an email from Doorpost that talked about how the owners of this business have handled Santa Clause and Christmas. She listed several books that they read and a video they watch and they even had a tradition that they celebrate St. Nick. And then today, I went to the library to get Christmas books for the boys to have next week. I just pulled Christmas books off the shelf - not knowing anything about them. When I was waiting in the McDonald's drive through I begin reading one of the books - Antonella and Her Santa. It was great and very helpful for what I am trying to wrap my head around. I have ordered the book and DVD that Pam Forrester recommended and John and I will watch and read before talking with the boys. December the 6th is St Nicholas Day and their family ate a German meal on Dec 5th, watched the video, and hung their stockings and they all camped out that night by the fireplace (were the stocking were) and the next morning they awoke to their stockings filled with gold coins (chocolate) and little gifts. This was in honor of the story of the true St. Nicholas and you can read about it here
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38. So I am hoping to wrap my head around how to explain Santa to Jake in a way that points to Christ. He gives us gifts despite how good or bad or deserving we are. Because He loves us and wants to serve us and glorify God. So all this rambling to say I would love any input you have and your prayers because I want Christmas to be about Christ. I will share more when I wrap my head around what I want to say. Until then, any ideas?