No, Kim, There is no Santa Claus

***Please note, the intention of this post is not to condemn any parents who use Santa as part of their Christmas celebration. I have no problem with that. I'm just telling my story!***

I never remember a time when I believed in Santa Claus. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. Oh, I knew about Santa Claus. I heard stories about Santa Claus. I even remember going to JC Penney to sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas (there were never pictures with Santa because my mom was too cheap to spend $5 on the photo like that!). I remember singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with my mom in the car and having a discussion about whether or not I'd been a good girl. But I never believed in Santa as if he were a real being who actually brought presents. Maybe it's because we never received presents from Santa. All of ours were from Mom and Dad. All of our presents were wrapped. The only exceptions were the giant, life-sized teddy bears my sister and I received from our grandparents one year, and that was only because they couldn't find a big enough box! To me, Santa Claus was like Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and all of the other fairy tale characters I knew. He was part of a story, a made-up story that people told at Christmas time and nothing more.

I don't think my parents consciously made a decision to not let us believe in Santa Claus. We just didn't, and it was never a big deal. As I've talked with friends over the past month or so about their decisions as to when to tell their children the truth about Santa, I've pondered why I never believed. I began to wonder if I somehow missed out on the magic of Christmas as a child. And that made me ponder my family's Christmas traditions. Christmas has always been one of my favorite parts of the year...my favorite holiday. Obviously, I didn't miss out on too much!

Then, on Friday night, my Sunday School class had their Christmas party at my house. Sitting on my coffee table is an Advent Wreath. Several years earlier, I had introduced our Sunday School department to the celebration of advent. I think they must have all lived under a rock because very few of them had ever heard of such, much less had any knowledge of an advent wreath. I became the subject of a lot of teasing, but I didn't care. I was determined to share with them this tradition that meant so much to me. Friday night, the teasing continued. It was then that I realized why celebrating Advent with the Advent Wreath is so important to me. And it all goes back to me not believing in Santa Claus.

Let me describe for you the scene in my house as a child during the Christmas season. The weekend after Thanksgiving, my family went to cut down a Christmas tree. When we arrived home, the Christmas decorations were immediately unpacked. And one of the first things we happened upon in the boxes of the Christmas decorations was the Advent Wreath. This, more than putting up the tree, really is the symbol of the start of the Christmas season for me! You see, my family always had nightly devotions together. This usually consisted of reading from one of our devotional books, talking about the scripture emphasis, sharing prayer requests, and ending with a loooooong prayer from my dad. But Advent devotions were different. There was something that was exciting, and it was more than just lighting candles! That was certainly part of it. My sister and I took turns each evening lighting the candles. We took our jobs very seriously and always loved the fourth week of Advent when there were four candles to light each evening! What fun! But like I said, it was more than just candles. This evening ritual brought us one step closer to Christmas each night. This evening ritual kept Christmas and the celebration of the day in it's proper light. Sure the gifts, decorations, music, lights, and everything else that comes along with Christmas is fun, but the real reason for the celebration is the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

You see, this is why I didn't believe in Santa. I didn't need to. Santa was just a story! Jesus is real! Jesus birth is real! Jesus life is real! The everlasting life we are offered because of Jesus' sacrifice is real! I didn't have to be warned to be "a good little girl" because Santa was watching. Our advent devotions gave me scriptural evidence of how God wants us to live our lives, totally submitted to Him. Sure, I asked for things for Christmas, but I don't ever remember being mad because "Santa" didn't bring me what I wanted. I usually received far more than what I asked for! Also, I had a different gift to focus on. The free gift that is available to all of us through Christ!

Advent means "the coming." The celebration of Advent was adopted by the Christian church centuries ago to help us spiritually prepare for the celebration of the coming of Christ to the earth as a baby, to reflect on Christ's promise that He will come again, and to focus on His present coming through His presence in our lives and through His grace. Santa Claus just seems to pale in light of Christ. "And the things of earth grew strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." Even today, I look forward to the celebration of Advent. When I moved out on my own, that first Christmas, my mom passed down our old advent wreath to me. The verses from various advent devotionals are some of my favorite: Psalm 108, Isaiah 7:9, Isaiah 9:6, Philippians 2:5-8, John 1:14, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, and on and on and on! I treasure this time every year. It helps me prepare my heart and focus my mind on the real reason for the season.

I didn't miss out on anything because I never believed in Santa. I had a greater gift, a greater reason to celebrate, a greater reason to sing, a greater song to sing! Christmas magic has nothing to do with Santa Claus. In fact, it's not magic at all. It's the supernatural moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives, guiding us, shaping us, and molding us into the people God wants us to be!