Monday Memories - Crossroads Winter Conference 07

What To Do With Santa?

Recently my wife and I have been doing a lot more talking and discussing about what to do with Santa Claus. As good parents wanting the best and most fun for their kids, we want Caleb and Taite to have many fond and very fun memories of Christmas. But at the same time, we're also extremely dedicated Christians, and desire to make sure they understand the real meaning behind Christmas. I guess every Christian parent has to deal with this issue at some point. And right now, our Caleb is at the age where we're going to have to really address it one way or the other. My wife recently wrote a very good blog about this issue from her perspective, to read it just follow this link: http://dreawd.blogspot.com/2007/12/santa.html

Personally, I really do not want to do Santa at all. And the reason may surprise you a little. It's really not about keeping the main thing at Christmas about Jesus... because we're going to do that anyway. The real issue for me is Integrity. The Santa Claus game or legend is not truth. I mean, let's face it... It's a lie. Now, I know that people will say, "but we're just pretending; it's a game." And I would have to say, "To you, it's a game... But to the child that you're convincing of it and even using it as motivational tool for good behavior, it's not pretending... it's real!" And in my opinion thats when pretending becomes deception... and for me, that's the issue.

My Experience
I remember when I was growing up, my parents did the whole Santa Claus thing. I wrote letters to Santa, left cookies and milk out for Santa, I can even remember my mom giving me a Santa-Chore chart to help me keep track of my chores and if I was doing good or not. The more gold stars I had the better! We're talking motivation here!! Now, I didn't like sitting on his lap at the mall or something, somehow I didn't think that was necessary. In my little mind, Santa was like God... He could just see you and He knew instinctively what you wanted. And I remember seriously believing in Santa until I was like 9-10 years old. And I remember even arguing with adults who expressed doubt in Santa. In fact, I believed with all my heart that I had actually seen him one time, and so I would argue with people about his existence. I'd look out my bedroom window on Christmas eve and believe I saw just a glimpse of his sleigh (probably a jet or plane). And so with all of that in my background... Can you even imagine how betrayed and how utterly FOOLISH I felt when I came to understand that it was all FAKE!

One of My Goals as a Parent
Now, taking that experience... look at it from my perspective as a Christian parent who is desperately desiring to teach my children about our great Faith. My parents were Christians and they taught me how to be a Christian, mostly through their actions. But they never aggressively taught me hard-core Christian doctrine from early childhood. Me, on the other hand, one of my goals is to pour out my Faith and all the truth I've learned about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Salvation, Sin, the Church, etc, etc... into my children. I want them to be extremely educated in the Christian faith. I want them reading and understanding things in high school that I never even heard of until seminary. I want them memorizing Scripture. I want them knowing the Bible backwards and forwards. I want them being able to recite catechsimal questions that teach systematic theology. I'm serious... I want my kids to be able to keep their youth minister and Sunday School teachers really on their toes, because their Daddy has taught them the truth.

The Dilemma
Now here's the question... How can I teach them so diligently about God and all these important spiritual things one minute and then turn around and lie to them about a jolly man in a red suit coming on Christmas Eve to bring them toys if they're good the next? Honestly, in good conscience... I just can't. I can teach them about the real St. Nick who was a strong believer, but I just can't convince them of something that is a blatant falsehood. I would rather my boys be able to confess to anyone one day that their Daddy never lied to them. And so when I'm teaching them about the real things of life, they won't ever have to stop and question if their Daddy is being serious or just "pretending."

Wordless Wednesday - slip n slide

When It's Too Good to be True...

My Dad use to tell me, "Son, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is (too good to be true that is). Yesterday, I received a cashier's check in the mail for $2800 from some kind of supposed contest or lottery called "Lucky For Life." The $2800 was just the first installment of the $30,000 I had won along with 9 other people. I was immediately suspicious because I have never purchased a lottery ticket and the postage stamp was from Canada.

But of course, I have to admit there was a small part of me that was looking at that check for $2800 and thinking "Wow... I could really use that!" I even went online to see if the bank was a legitmate bank. And it was! I mean, even if the rest of it was a scam and not true... $2800 would be just fine with me. :)

But then I called the Bank in Tyler Texas which the cashier's check was from, and sure enough... it was a fake check and it was a big scam. What they want you to do is to deposit that check in your bank account and then call them with your bank information so that they can "wire the rest to you." Right! The truth is as soon as you give them the account information, your money is as good as gone! So, if any of you out there receive a "Lucky For Life" sweepstakes letter saying you've won a lot of money... Don't buy it. It's all a big scam.

p.s. Found this afterwards... a "Rip-off Report"
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/287/RipOff0287601.htm

Newest Item on Christmas List

Today, I went out to lunch with a friend and while we were out he showed me the neatest thing in his car. It was called a Navigon. I have seen items similar like this before, but I never realized how cool they were until I actually saw his work. This incredible piece of technology will absolutely do away with having to stop and ask for directions forever. Not only can you type in an address to get directions, but you can even just ask for things like hotels and restaurants, and it will come up with a whole list, and all you have to do is say take me there and it does. How cool is that? I can't count how many times I have been in a strange city riding all over the place looking for a particular place. And the best thing about it is there are no monthly subscriptions to a satelite service; all the information is right in the machine. You just pay for it once and go. Yep, this is definitely the newest item on my Christmas wish list.

Monday Memories - Meeting a former Colts Player

Last year I had the privilege of meeting Shawn Harper, former NFL Offensive Lineman for the Indianapolis Colts. Shawn is now a Christian Motivational Speaker. He travels all around the country sharing his testimony of how Jesus Christ has saved him and what God can in your life if you let Him. In fact, that is how I was able to meet Shawn. He came to Bellevue, Ohio at the invitation of Touch the Heart Youth Ministries. While there he spoke in several schools and hosted a big youth rally in the park the following Saturday. If you would like you can check out his website at: http://shawnharperministries.org/

Thanksgiving at Grandmother's

For my entire life, we have always gone to my grandmother's for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter for big family gatherings. Of course, I grew up seeing my grandmother a whole lot more than that, seeing as how I only lived like 300 yards from her. Haha. Well, today Caleb and I took the hour and a half trip back to Grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, little Taite was sick so Andrea decided to just stay here at home with him. I hated they weren't with us, but I know it was better for Taite... he slept most of the day.

Below is a picture of my son, Caleb enjoying some of grandmother's good cooking. Her turkey and dressing is the best I've ever eaten. I wish I had entire dish of it to bring home. I did bring Andrea some food for supper. And some very kind people from our church brought her some turkey for lunch which I thought was very sweet of them.




And well, after doing a lot eating, playing, and enjoying all of the family, we were pretty tired. As you can see from the picture below, Caleb got to enjoy a nice little nap on the ride home. It was a good day. I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving day with family and friends!