Something Right

Hit the snooze button...  not once, but three times.

Forgot that I'd made myself coffee.

Realized that I had no house key.

Left the house unlocked all day.

Failed to brush the boys' teeth.

Fussed at the boys for being slow.

Said "no" twenty times before we even got to school, 

   less than a mile from our house.

Arrived late...  on "Breakfast with Santa" day.

Locked myself out of the building.

Realized my zipper was broken.

Hadn't stopped to pray...  

However, school had started, and my class was bustling with excitement after having had breakfast with Santa and were ready to party and open gifts!  Nine of my eleven students (1 of them being Daniel) sat down at their desks with their journals opened to the heading, "What I Want for Christmas," and their mouths couldn't quiet enough for their fingers to even begin drawing.  I was rather hurried myself, getting things ready for crafts and ensuring that each child had brought a gift for the book exchange later in the day...  but that is when I overheard it... 

The phrase I wasn't really ready to hear come out of MY child's mouth:

"Santa isn't even real."

The little girls at his table all gasped.  He repeated it over again.  My heart became a bit overwhelmed, yet I felt the sweetest urge to let the conversation continue.  Daniel tried explaining the best he could.  "He's just a man who gets dressed up.  You know, like a Halloween costume, and he listens to you, but he really doesn't know what you need."  To be honest, he was telling these little ones the truth, but I knew these girls' hearts were breaking.  "We just have a lot of baby Jesus at our house and we read about when he was born and we get presents like him."

That's the moment I remember distinctly asking God to lead me.  

I stepped in, with the Lord's guidance, and began to give details about Daniel's bold statements.  I said, "I realize that Santa comes to your houses, but Santa Claus doesn't come to Daniel's house."  They were shocked.  "Daniel's Daddy and I love him and his brothers so much that we want to take care of giving them gifts at Christmas.  We've instructed Santa that we will take care of them, so he doesn't need to come to our home."  One precious girl asked, "How do you know what they want?  Like, what presents do they get on Christmas if Santa doesn't come?"  I continued, "I'm Daniel's Mommy, and to be honest, I think I know him better than most anyone!  (The girls laughed!)  I know what he needs and what he wants, and his Dad and I choose things we feel are best for him.  But, that isn't the only reason Santa doesn't come to our house..."

They all were listening so intently at this point, you could have heard a pin drop.  "Daniel, Samuel, and Elias are precious gifts to us, and they each get three gifts on Christmas.  Only three.  Sometimes you will get much more than that, but not at our house.  You see, the very first Christmas, a baby was born.  He wasn't just any baby; he was a gift to the world from God.  Wise men came to celebrate his birthday by bringing him three gifts:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  They brought him exactly what he needed and much more.  I know this is hard to understand, but we feel like our boys only need three because that is all that Jesus received.  We do that because we want to remember Jesus at Christmas, not Santa.  Does that make sense?"

They all shook their heads, but I realized questions were filling their minds...  

"I love Jesus, too, but is it okay if Santa still comes to my house?"

Daniel quickly responds, "SURE!  Just not me because I like baby Jesus more than Santa."  I agreed with him.  I went on further to say that there was nothing wrong with Santa, and it is wonderful if he comes to their homes.  I finished by saying that when they receive gifts from Santa to remember and be thankful for the best gift of all, JESUS!  All was well after this, and nothing else was really mentioned about it.

It was a moment I'll never forget for many reasons.  However, looking back at it tonight, God filled my heart with such joy as I thought about what Daniel had said.  His boldness in speaking truth, his relentless fervor for being right, and his unbridled spirit and love for the Lord have blessed me.  If it weren't for him, I would have never spoken so directly about Santa or Christ!  In a day when the morning had gone so wrong in so many different ways, God reminded me that I am doing something right.  

Daniel wasn't upset about being different.  He wasn't bothered that "Santa" isn't coming to his house.  He was intent on telling the truth and sharing what he felt was important.  God showed me, through the actions of our four-year-old, that being a child of God is being different.  It is doing things a bit peculiarly.  It is speaking truth and sharing His message when the opportunity arises.  It is all that I want to be found doing...  something right for the Lord.  

Daniel standing beside one of our "Names of Jesus" trees

Best Gifts of 2012

This gift came early.

In that box was a Vanderbilt hoodie

from Brian to me.

In the box that followed were two tickets

to the Vanderbilt bowl game!

This Noah's Ark was such a huge hit!

It was from Pop to Elias, 

but Daniel and Samuel love it too.

Mimi's gift to Samuel was perfect.

He is such a little musician.

He loves this thing.

Amazed.

That's what Daniel was when

Mimi brought out her gift to him.

A remote controlled Cranky 

to go with his Thomas trains and tracks.

It's awesome.

The actual child's grocery cart 

from Grandpa to Samuel

(which Mommy spray painted

and made it to look brand new)

has been used non-stop.

Not only does it carry grocery boxes,

it also carries tracks, animals, and books.

Two surprises from Daddy to Mommy

are in this picture:

1) the necklace I am wearing has all 5 

of our children's names stamped into it - 

sweetest thing ever

and 

2) the sketch of Elias done by a young man

that is incredibly talented and is in the 

program at the Mission where Brian works.

Mimi's gift to Elias was this

Chase and Race town.

All three boys enjoy it!

Aunt Ca got each of the boys a bathtub paint set.

Be still my heart.

They've had two baths in less than 24 hours.

They love painting in the tub so much.

Grandpa's gift to Elias is a keeper.

Our sickish little one actually smiled

when he started playing with it.

The best gifts are not things...

For me, the best gift of all

is the gift of Christ and His love.

It is because of Him 

that we know how to love

and be loved.

My heart is FULL.

Our Jesus Tree

Our Christmas tree is a special sight.  God gave me the initial idea before Brian and I were even a couple to make him his own Christmas tree.  I knew he wasn't exactly home living in a church couple's upstairs bedroom, so for my pastor's Christmas gift in 2006, I purchased, decorated, and gave him a very special tree that he could have in his room.  It was SMALL, but the ornaments each represented a name of Christ.  I laminated a sheet that included each ornament, the name of Christ each stood for, and the scripture reference for each one.  It was amazing.  (In fact, it still is.  It meant so much to him that he kept it, and it is a staple decoration in our home every Christmas.)

So, when we married just a mere 4 months after that, we knew what our first Christmas tree was going to be.  We decided to make a large-scale of the small tree I had created for him.  It's really special.  We've collected and added ornaments over the past 6 years, and each one represents a name of Christ OR a scripture in the Bible.  It's decorated with scarlet ribbons, a string of pearls, a vine among the branches, and for each ornament, there is a ball ornament with the scripture reference written on it.  It's topped with a crown of thorns.  As our children grow, we plan to use each ornament and decoration as a nightly devotion leading up to Christmas.

Christmas Tree 2011

Vines

I am the vine; you are the branches...

John 15:5

Trump

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

1 Thessalonians 4:16

Deer

As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after You.

Psalm 42:1

Lily and Rose

I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.

Song of Solomon 2:1

Nets

Follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men.

Mark 1:17

After decorating our tree in 2011

Daniel with the "trump of God"

Samuel holds our "winnowing fan"

Matthew 3:12-17

Christmas 2012 included tracks under the tree.

Christmas Tree 2012

Christmas 2012

3 boys and their toys.

Elias' favorite ornaments are the "bells."

Exodus 28:34

The small tree that started it all.

Sweet, Simple Christmas

I love Christmas.  I love the truth it brings.  I love that it is a time to really reflect on the birth of Jesus.  I don't always think of my Savior as a child, but now that I am a mother, the story of Christ's arrival is much sweeter to me.  The idea that God's Son was willing to come to this earth to bless us with the gift of His life, death, and resurrection completely amazes me.

Christmas for our family is simple.  We eat too much, laugh a bunch, and love on each other.  We read from Luke over and over and over to reiterate the importance of this holiday, and at this point, both Daniel and Samuel can tell you the gifts the wise men brought to baby Jesus.  Our boys, much like Jesus, receive three gifts from Mom and Dad on Christmas morning.  They wake to find them neatly wrapped and set out underneath our "Jesus" tree.  However, they cannot open them until after we read about the gift of Jesus!  

I know we do things a bit different than most, but there's something sweet about the simplicity of what we do.  Jesus didn't come into the world with fancy things, yet He was and is the King of Kings.  He definitely wasn't the best dressed wearing swaddling cloths and lying among pieces of hay, yet He now wears a robe and a crown.  He didn't need gifts because He was and is the gift to the world.  I want our children to know that Christmas is about CHRIST and nothing more.  The reason we lavish our love on our children at this time of year is because Christ first loved us.  Yes, they got way more than they need, but I hope that in the excitement of what was today, our boys reflected on who and why we celebrate:  Jesus Christ, our Lord.

3 boys

3 stockings

3 gifts for each

(Stockings are my favorite Christmas childhood memory - 

my mom was very good about making these special for us, 

so I really want to continue that tradition with our boys.)

Reading the Christmas Story

in our pajamas

Daniel, despite having gone to the doctor

on Christmas Eve and having ear infections,

was SUPER excited to get 

Crazy Forts from Mom and Dad!

Thankful for medicine today.

Samuel, our little musician,

was happy to get a microphone

that plays music AND

records him singing!

Elias really wasn't feeling well...

He has been running temp since Christmas Eve, 

and today his symptoms increased.

However, he really liked his 

Chase and Go car.

BUT not near as much as he liked 

his Laugh and Learn farm he received

from Grandpa a few days before Christmas.

We decided to pull it out on Christmas Day - 

you know, to add to the chaos.  

We were all ready to go back to bed.

No?

Just Mom and Elias.

We really test the "age recommendation"

on toys to their limits.  For instance,

the barn says ages 6-36 months.

No joke, our 3 sons played with this for an hour.

Elias (7 months)

Samuel (31 months = 2 1/2 years)

Daniel (44 months = 3 1/2 years)

Daniel acted like it was the best thing

he's seen in a year!

What Christmas 

(and double ear infections)

does to Daniel!

Asleep on the couch by 7 o'clock

Simple Christmas Truths

I have strong feelings about Santa.  I do.  I'll be honest when I say that I struggled over whether or not to allow the boys' to attend their Mother's Day Out's "Breakfast with Santa" this year.  I really cannot explain why I dislike him, but I can say without question that I want our children to know truth.  I want them to know who Jesus is and why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.  So, after giving it way too much thought, I opted to make sausage balls and head over to see Santa.

The boys really don't know who he is.  They've been told that many people celebrate Santa at Christmas, but we have decided that Jesus is who our family will honor.  They call Santa "old" and "snowman," and they think he is silly.  They've only seen him in pictures and as inflatables in our neighbors' front yards.

Our house is decorated with nativity scenes this season...  I have a total of 6 nativities, and I'm hoping that the Fisher Price one goes on sale following the holiday so the boys can have one of their own for next year.  The boys know who Baby Jesus is.  They know He was born in a barn.  They know He received three gifts for his birthday (and if you ask them, they'll name them - gold, frankincense, and myrrh).  They know our tree is decorated with ornaments that represent Jesus and all He is to us.  So, Santa isn't well-known in our house.  I don't mean to offend anyone who chooses to "believe" in him; we've simply decided he's not for us.

We walk in, and I was in Santa-overload.  It was all very cute, but when Christmas rolls around, I prefer less Santa and more Baby Jesus.  I really was having a hard time deciding if we should even walk up front to see Santa, when Daniel tells me he needs to see him.

This is what I overheard:

Santa:  What's your name?
Daniel:  My name's Daniel Benjamin, and this is Samuel Levi.  Oh, and my baby is Elias Joseph.
Santa:  Daniel...  That's a strong biblical name.
Daniel:  Yeah, it's in the Bible.
Santa:  What does Daniel do in the Bible?
Daniel:  He prays a lot.  He gets away from the lions!
Santa:  You're right.  So, Daniel, is there anything you'd like me to get you for Christmas?
Daniel:  I don't need you to get me nothing.  My mommy went on the roof yesterday and got some new toys for me and my brothers.

I quickly realized two things, that 1) a child's old baby toys are just like new when you get them down after a year's stay in the attic, and 2) a child can choose what he wants to believe.  My sweet, rambunctious 3-year-old has decided that the Bible is the book for him.  He knows where his name came from.  He knows that, with the help of the Lord, his parents will give him what he needs.  He knows who he is.

Children had asked for all sorts of things that morning, but our son said he needed nothing.  My heart was so full.  He may choose to believe in Santa next year, but whatever Daniel (or Samuel or Elias) decides will be up to them.  I can only guide their precious hearts to truth and pray that God leads them to Himself.  I hope that one day Daniel will see that Christ is all he will ever need.  I feel like we're on the right path.



I also want to thank our children's Mother's Day Out program for ALL that they do for us.  While my children may not celebrate Santa, they are loved on and taught each week by women who adore them.  I'm blessed to call these teachers my friends, and I love them for what they do!