We Believe

If you are under 12, quit reading this and log off immediately. Ask your parents to read it first and then let you know if you need to read it.






If you are older than 12,  please don't think that by sharing our traditions that I am saying that the way you do things at your house is wrong. This is just  what Eric and I felt the Lord called us to do in our home with our children regarding Santa Claus.  I am writing this because I have had many people interested in or confused about the way we present Old St. Nicholas and I hope that this explains some of the things that we do and the reasons and thoughts behind those choices and actions.

We have never told our children that Santa Claus brings their gifts to our home on Christmas eve. We don't have reindeer food. We don't have an Elf on the Shelf. We don't leave out milk and cookies. We haven't had stockings every year.

But we don't hate Santa Claus. We like him. We talk about him. We have a few figures of him on our piano and on our tree.

We have shared with the children the origins of Santa Claus. We let them know that the traditions that we have of him come from a fellow who loved God and wanted to be like Jesus. Below is a simple version of the story that we have shared with them:

The real Santa lived a long time ago in a place called Asia Minor. It is now the country of Turkey. His name was Nicholas.

Nicholas' parents died when he was just a teenager. His parents left him a lot of money which made him a rich young man. He went to live with his uncle who was a priest.

Nicholas heard about a man who had lost all his money. He had three daughters who were old enough to get married. But in those days young women had to have money in order to get married. This money was a "dowry" and it was used to help the new family get started. If you didn't have dowry money, you didn't get married.

This family was so poor they had nothing left to eat. The daughters were going to be sold as slaves because they couldn't live at home any longer. They were very sad. They wouldn't be able to have families of their own. And they would have to be slaves—no longer able to decide where they would live or what they would do.

The night before the oldest daughter was to be sold, she washed her stockings and put them in front of the fire to dry. Then all of them went to sleep—the father and the three daughters.

In the morning the daughter saw a lump in her stocking. Reaching in, she found a small, heavy bag. It had gold inside! Enough to provide food for the family and money for her dowry. Oh, how happy they were!

The next morning, another bag with gold was found. Imagine! Two of the daughters would now be saved. Such joy!

And the next night, the father planned to stay awake to find out who was helping his daughters. He dozed off, but heard a small "clink" as another bag landed in the room. Quickly he jumped up and ran out the door. Who did he catch ducking around the corner?

Nicholas, the young man who lived with his uncle. "Nicholas, it is you! Thank you for helping us—I hardly know what to say!" Nicholas said, "Please, do not thank me—thank God that your prayers have been answered. Do not tell others about me."

Nicholas continued helping people. He always tried to help secretly. He didn't want any attention or thanks. Years passed and he was chosen to be a bishop. Bishops look after their people as shepherds look after their sheep. And that is what Nicholas did. When there wasn't any food, he found wheat; so no one went hungry. He always helped people in trouble. All his life Nicholas showed people how to love God and care for each other.

Everyone loved Nicholas. After he died, they told stories of the good and kind things Nicholas had done. Sailors took these stories about Nicholas everywhere they went. Some of the stories were about his special care for children—helping and protecting them when danger threatened. And so more and more people learned about good, kind Nicholas. They wanted to be like him. He is an example of how we should live. And that is why he became a saint.

This is the story of the real Santa Claus, St. Nicholas. To this day people say that St. Nicholas, or Santa, is the special friend of children.

—Carol Myers

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/real-santa/

We have hit a few bumps in the road with this approach. I thought Eric and I had explained carefully that it wasn't our children's job to tell the world what Santa Claus does or doesn't do. We tried to impress upon them that it was each parent's decision when and what to tell their children. When Tess was in first grade that she told her friends that Santa Claus was dead! We talked with her some more, she became older and understood what we were telling her, and I don't think she has done that ever again. It grieved me because I didn't want to push what we have chosen on others any more than I wanted to have other traditions pushed upon us. Because in times past, when we have talked about our custom, we are often met with looks of incomprehension, disgust, and defensive arguments. But to us, we feel the picture we are painting for our babies is just what they need to see.

I know that my kids (as I remember that I did) would love it if some guy came down our chimney and left them everything that the world could offer them. But instead, by letting them know that their parents and loved ones buy their gifts, I hope we let them grasp that there are limits to what they can have beyond their needs and our means.

I was touched that this year, after I have been off work for 2 months, that when I asked them to write down the things that they would like for their Christmas presents, they were thoughtful before they began to make their list. When I went over Ty's list with him, I had to stop him from scratching off most of it because he kept saying "I don't really think I need that, Mom". And when Tess brought me hers, she said, "This is the one thing I most want. If you can't get the other things it is okay". It comforts us to know that they won't be disappointed when they open their presents. That they know we love them and the amount of their gifts is nothing compared to the love and thought that goes into each whether it happens to be 1 or 10.

We know that it is a common thing for folks, in kindness, to ask our children what Santa Claus is going to bring them. Instead, we would love for them to ask the kids, "How are you going to share Christ's love this Christmas?" Or instead of telling them that Santa or his helpers are watching them and sees what they do and keeps track of whether they are naughty or nice, We'd like them to gently remind our kids that God is everywhere and that He sees everything that they do. That He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to be an example for us. We want them to ask our children to think about what Jesus would do. We want our kids to know that they should behave because Jesus gave them loving boundaries and not just so they can get the things that they want.

When we have had stockings on our mantle, instead of filling them with toys, we place a bag of gold foil wrapped chocolate coins to remind them of the money that Nicholas gave to help the young women to remind them that we should look to SEE needs and GIVE as much as we can to meet those needs.

We believe. We believe that a man, named Nicholas, who became known as Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus, lived and died. He was just a man, but a man who wanted to follow Jesus. But more than anything, we believe in Jesus, whom God was so gracious to send us as a baby, so that the world might have HOPE, experience JOY, and know real, unconditional LOVE.