Why I Lie To My Kids About Christmas

We will not hide them from our children,but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,and the wonders that he has done. Psalm 78:4

Okay, Okay I know that Santa Clause and flying reindeer do not exist, but I told my kids they do. Caden believes that tonight, Santa will come down our chimney and bring Him toys and gifts that the elves made. He believes that Santa will arrive at our house by way of flying reindeer that are powered by the Christmas spirit that lives within the boys and girls of the world. The craziest thing about Caden believing all this is that He believes it because I told him that all of this is true. That is right I flat out lied to my son about Christmas.

I have a reason for my deception, and will not apologize for my kids believing in Santa Clause. There is a wonder and magic about Christmas that you cannot find in any other area of an unsaved child's life. I will never forget the first time that Caden watched The Polar Express this year. As soon as it was over Caden ran to our front window. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was waiting for the Polar Express to come to our house. I was floored. I could not believe that he was so enthralled. This is what lying to my kids get them. It tells them that there is magic and wonder; something worth being WOWed over. Something to believe in. Something to get excited about.

One day my kids will realize that Santa is not real, just like I did. But the idea of wonder and amazement has already found residents in my kids' hearts. I believe this is good for them. I pray that one day Another will come, the real One that will amaze and WOW my children. This One will be more powerful and awe inspiring than any fake story about a man in a red coat coming to bring them gifts. It will be a story of the greatest gift Jesus could give, Himself.

I do not believe my children will be scarred by me lying to them. I believe they will thank me that I gave them a magical night each year that made them believe. Then they will thank me even more that I told the next generation about the One who is truly worth our wonder and amazement. That I told them of Jesus' glorious deeds, his might and his wonder. The true wonder of Christmas.

Jesus, I pray that you will use this magical time of year to infuse in my children a wonder that will be with them the rest of their lives. I ask that you would open the eyes of their hearts at a young age to see the wonder and amazement that only you can bring in completion. Use Santa Clause, elves and flying reindeer to draw my children to yourself. Amen

The Lord is Good, because The Lord is Good.

"I say to Jehovah, you are my Lord, I have no good apart from you." Psalm 16:2

"For the LORD is good;his steadfast love endures forever,and his faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100:5


I was in the process of doing what I always do at 4:30pm on the second Friday of December... preparing for the Refuge Christmas Party. The teenagers would be arriving in a little over an hour, and things were not quite ready for them to.

My phone rang, and it was my sister telling me that my mother had been in a head on collision, and that she had hurt her back. I headed toward the accident site, not knowing what to expect. I saw an ambulance headed off and assumed my mom was in the back...I was right.


My mom had a combustion fracture of her L3 vertebrate. They moved her to Parkland Hospital, where my family met together to await word from her doctors on whether they would perform surgery or not. They eventually informed us that based upon the type and location of the fracture, surgery would not be necessary. We were then informed, however, that she would remain in a rotating bed for three weeks without sitting up, followed by three weeks of rehabilitation.


The prayers began immediately. My mom had literally hundreds maybe even thousands of people praying all over the nation that the Lord would supernaturally touch her back. Through this entire ordeal the Lord has shown his grace. First, it was a blessing that my mom was not killed. The other driver was going roughly 50 mph, when they collided. Second, we were told that there were two spine doctors at Parkland that we should ask to look at my mom in order that we could receive a second opinion. My mom had two doctors that asked for her case and they were the same doctors that were recommended to us. She literally had the two best spine doctors in the Dallas area working on her, and there was no need for the second opinion when the first is the best. Thirdly, we were told that we were looking at four to six weeks in the hospital. She was released today with a brace. Ten days after the wreck she is home!!! One doctor used the word "amazed" when describing how well my mom was doing.


I could go on and on about how gracious the Lord has been through all of this. However, one thing has been pressing on me, as I have been thinking about everything that has gone on over the past few weeks. When people found out that my mom was coming home today almost all had the same response, "the Lord is good". While the Lord was indeed good to us and got my mom home earlier than we expected, He is not good because he got my mom home earlier than we expected.


The truth is that the Lord is good, because the Lord is good. What would I say if she had died or if she were paralyzed, and horribly burned. I hope that my response would be, that "the Lord is good". Our God is not good because he does nice, gracious things for us, He is good, because it is who he is. No matter what we are put through, or where we find ourselves. His goodness is not contingent upon Him making my life easier to deal with. His desire to glorify Himself, in fact, sometimes puts us through the ringer (i.e. Job), and we, in our flesh don't like it at all.


I want to say as the Psalmist did, "I have no good apart from you." No matter where that takes me or what I go through. I have no good except Christ. We have no good except Christ. We must never question His goodness, His love, or His faithfulness. I throw myself down upon His grace and thank Him for what He did for my mom and our family, but I do not worship Him for what He does for me, but for who He is to me.


Thank you, Jesus that you sought fit, in your grace to give my family a great gift, by getting my mom home for Christmas. But Christ I ask you to give me such faith that I would praise and worship you the same even if you had not. Amen