New Chapter

It was only mid-November, but I heard through my mommy network that Santa was already in town. I put my children in their most festive Christmas pajamas, loaded up our sleigh (aka. the family Volvo) and pointed our Swedish-engineered “reindeer” toward Southfield Road to meet the big man in red.

With Tilly being 3 years old this Christmas, I was so excited to watch her reaction to seeing Santa again. Would she love him or be fearful? Would she rattle off a mile-long list of what she wanted for Christmas or become petrified at the sight of St. Nick? And Grady had never seen Santa at all, so there was no guessing how he might respond. But I was confident that St. Paul’s Day School and Jaci Iles Photography had made an art of introducing young children to Santa.

When we arrived, my little ones gladly snuggled up in the big green sleigh and smiled so sweetly for Jaci. Then unbeknownst to Tilly and Grady, Santa snuck out from behind the photo backdrop to stand behind them for a few happy pictures.

It was the moment of truth. My children didn’t know Santa was going to be there, and when they turned around to look, their reactions couldn’t have been more different. Grady immediately thought to bail even if that meant attempting to go over the side of the sleigh. And Tilly sat there unfazed by him, seeming to not care about Santa’s presence either way, although she did tell him she wanted a new flashlight for Christmas this year.

We finished up our photo session and were rewarded with a candy cane, which Tilly seemed more excited about than Santa himself, and we headed back to the car. As we walked together, I asked Tilly what she thought about seeing Santa, mentioning how excited I was for us to see him again.

She replied, “That wasn’t the real Santa.”

Somewhat in shock that my 3-year-old was questioning Santa’s authenticity, I questioned her, “What do you mean? Of course that was the real Santa!” We talked about his real beard that was white and fluffy. His beautiful red suit and even his small halfframed reading glasses to help him check his list, not once, but twice.

She never backed down from her opinion, but I was just grateful that she wasn’t questioning his authenticity and existence altogether. In her mind, this was a pretend Santa because the real Santa was still at the North Pole running his toy shop and overseeing the elves as they prepared gifts for good boys and girls.

While Santa is a hot-button issue in some households, he’s one of the traditions I particularly love about this time of year. There’s so much magic and wonder that a childlike spirit can’t resist.

Some believe Santa and Jesus stand in opposition this time of year – that believing in one means forsaking the other. But in my mind, Santa is the Cliff’s Notes version of believing. He introduces children to the concept of believing in something that cannot be seen and opens doors for us to discuss with our little ones what it means to truly have faith.

I love what Billy Graham had to say about believing: “Can you see God? You haven’t seen him? I’ve never seen the wind. I see the effects of the wind, but I’ve never seen the wind. There’s a mystery to it.”

Believing is a choice, and for most of us adults, that choice is challenged each day. We certainly do wage a tug of war between trusting in the things unseen and taking over control for ourselves.

I think about the child who trusts that when they wake on Christmas morning, Santa will have come during the night to leave the gifts they wished for. Children may attempt to stay up all night eagerly anticipating Santa’s arrival, but you’ve never heard of a child staying up because they were worried Santa wasn’t coming and they needed to set out some gifts for themselves just in case.

As it says in Hebrews, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Stephanie Jordan is a local journalist, marketer and blogger.

Her blog can be found at www.stephanienetherton.blogspot.com, and she can be contacted at stephanienetjordan@gmail.com.