What to do with Santa

For those who read my post about our Advent Box, I mentioned that we don't do Santa with our kids.  (If you didn't read that post, you can see it here.) At first I had hoped to just ignore Santa and maybe it wouldn't become an issue.  When my oldest was in a church preschool and Santa came to their Christmas play, I knew I had to have a different tactic.  I told my son then that Santa was a character in tv and in a book, like Mickey Mouse.  As he's gotten older and everywhere we go people ask "what did you ask Santa to get you for Christmas?" I've had to help him understand more about the difference between what we do during Christmas and the rest of our culture.  He's under strict orders to not say anything to kids at school and to let them believe what they want about Santa.  The only reply he's allowed to give is "We don't celebrate Santa."

Today is St. Nicholas day and it is widely celebrated in Europe.  My guess is that the Dec. 6th celebration somehow got merged over the years with our Christmas celebration on the 25th.  What I have been doing is teaching the kids that there was a real Santa Claus whose name was St. Nicholas.  I have a book called, Santa, Are You For Real? that we read each year on St. Nicholas Day.  This morning in our Advent Box, was a tiny cup (actually a communion cup).  We read the passage from scripture where Jesus says in Matthew 25:

"But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’37“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’40“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

I tell them that the cup represents the part of the verse where Jesus says "I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink." We read the story about St. Nicholas and talked about his generosity to the poor.  Our activity today was to fill stockings with items that homeless men in our community need: socks, soap, toothbrushes,etc.  We are going to give them to a ministry that works with the homeless in our area.

After about five years of instructing Ethan in the true meaning of Christmas through our Advent Box, he now looks for Jesus in what he sees at Christmas time.  When were were decorating our Christmas tree, he asked, "What will we put at the top of the tree, a star?"  I said yes and he replied "Do we do that because there was a star over the manger where Jesus was born?"

Where do you find Jesus this Christmas?