Our ADVENTures: My WHY

My first and second born were barely toddlers when we decided that Jesus would be the focus and Santa would be in the margins of our holiday celebrations, rather than the other way around. We would be honest with our kids about who Santa really was: a wonderful man who truly loved Jesus, truly loved people with God’s love, and gave generously in Jesus’ name. To be candid, my family didn’t get it. The conversations were un-fun. As reasonable, simple, and sound as my arguments were, our choice stood in opposition to the choices they had made, and some had a difficult time moving past. They felt sorry for our kids, which hurt.

How could there be any fun at all without Santa? He’s the center of all that is fun!

Except he’s not. That’s just an association, created early on in small humans’ little psyches, and I knew that with very little effort and a little intentionality, I could create an equally strong association for my kiddos with Jesus at the center of all the fun!

Even so, there were a couple family members who persisted. One year, out of sympathy and compassion, they even ‘conspired’ to have someone dress up like Santa for my kids. Literally, there were no other kids at the holiday gathering except mine. It was an intervention, apparently. I rolled my eyes on the inside and then sought to let it roll off my back. I also got a little surprise delight that my kids, at 4 and 5 by this time, found the theatrical effort to be wholly ‘meh.’ Having the naïveté of children, they were simply confused as to why these family members would go to such silly lengths knowing that they (my kids) knew the truth. They shook their heads, laughed sympathetically, and indulged their family’s perplexing attempts to ‘make Christmas fun’ the only way they knew—through Santa.

But our celebrations have never been dull. Over the years I’ve loved shopping Pinterest and the internet at large for creative Christmas traditions with Jesus in the spotlight. The result has been nothing short of everything I could’ve hoped for and beyond!

December is my kids’ favorite time of year. My older kids get caught up in the joy of reminiscing to the younger kids about their first experiences with various traditions. I have two tweens who still engage and participate. And if the project is geared toward the littler ones, my olders cheerfully take on the role of teacher’s aids.

There is no emphasis on ‘being good.’ Our reality is that we all have ‘bad’ (or sin) in our nature, but we were also made in the image of our good Creator, so it is His Spirit who empowers us to good works.  And God is gracious enough to give us good gifts even when we make bad choices. We don’t get good things because we’re good. We get good things because HE is good. It’s a little thing called grace and it’s incredibly hard for people to live out. It’s essential to make it real and practice giving and receiving it early and often.

But the best part. The very best, most beautiful part, is that every single activity in our December ADVENTures stands upon the foundation of Jesus; getting familiar with the signs of His first coming that the prophets foretold and the Magi pored over, and discussing the types of signs we look for today that point to His second coming; discussing the dark state of things before his brilliant light joined us from heaven. The wonder, the peace, the rescue plan from a loving God. Nothing dull about it! Worth celebrating all on its own! And also, a man named Nicholas, who we celebrate on December 6th; who loved and served and gave in the name of Jesus.

Sooo…

With all this context stirring beneath the surface, I dive in every year to make December memorable!!

What’s your WHY? Articulating it can be surprisingly helpful as you begin to plan what your December will look like. Knowing your WHY will help you to discern which activities to include and which to prune.