******WARNING!!!  This blog is a reflection of OUR choices and our beliefs****

I have to say that I am absolutely baffled by the dissection Christmas!  To us, Christmas is a respectable, honoring of the fulfillment of prophecy back from the beginning of time that told us that a Savior would come.  In our family, we celebrate Christmas (Christ's birth) as a Religious Holiday. Why? Because we are Christians and Christ is our Savior; a key figure ( to say the least) of our religion. Do I think that there is a verse in the Bible that says, "Have a tree on My birthday or you will pay!!!" No, I don't. Do I think that there are mandates (as a Christian) as to how you celebrate Christmas. Nope!  Do I think that everyone should follow a set guideline on how to celebrate within your own family? NO.  So, why is it that so many people feel the need to define Christmas as religious or not?  I have elaborate birthday celebrations for my children each year. I take time to honor them and to thank God for the gift of their life. Why wouldn't I do the same for my Savior? The difference is only that Christmas Day is a day set aside to corporately celebrate this day.  This is why the real Saint Nicholas chose this day to begin with.

We have a Christmas tree; not because the Bible says to (which it doesn't), but because we think it is pretty.  We open presents, because we think it is fun, not because it is a commercial overtaking of our home or because of any other mandate. Nor do I think that opening presents should be the center of the day.  Again, it doesn't say either way in the Bible, but just like any other day, greed shouldn't become the focus of the day.  For that reason, we don't allow our children to make Christmas lists.  We want them to be gifted by someone. If someone asks me for a suggestion for our kids, my standard answer is, " It is your money and an acknowledgement of your heart, so you choose."  There have been times when I have said no to items that I felt weren't appropriate for our kids, but that would happen anytime of the year and the people the buy for my kids are respectful enough to call and ask. 

We don't "do" Santa.  For us, It was a decision based on prayer and contemplation of the future with our kids.  We made it before we even held our first blessing. We, personally, didn't want to present any falsehood as real to them at any time; however innocent it may be. They know who Santa was and they know he is a legend.  IN the same way that they don't believe that The Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, or Bob the Tomato are real, they don't ever think that Santa comes into our home and leaves them gifts. It was a tradition that we decided didn't line up with the truths we wanted to present to our kids, because to continue in the tradition, we must tell them things as facts that were simply not true.  Smaller issues have caused some to stumble and we didn't want to contribute that knowingly in the lives of our kids.. That was what we decided.  We don't condemn those that do. Just like clothing choices and teaching choices, we choose what is best for OUR kids; not anyone else's.  At the same time, we don't expect our children to lie in order to honor this tradition for someone else.  What would that teach them?   It tells them that traditions are more important than truth.  That is a scary journey I don't want to embark on with a new little Christian or one that is so close to surrendering her heart at all!! Why can't people respect that? ARGH!!! (Sorry-sore subject for me.)

So why is it that people need to define Christmas so much?  Is it a "Christian Holiday"?  What does that mean?  Does it mean, is it sanctioned by the Holy Church of whatever?What does it matter?  It seems that defining it as a "Christian Holiday" may force people to cut things out of their traditions that conflict with their faith and maybe that is real the issue over the labeling.  I consider it as a "Christian Holiday", because it is the day that we corporately, as a religion,  honor the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Does it make me less of a Christian, because we put a tree up and that isn't in the Bible? No, and I defy anyone to say that it does.  We don't worship it. We don't covet anyone else's. We don't lie or murder to get it. We just think it is pretty.  We also use it as the entry into which we read the true account of Christ's birth from the Book of Luke every year.  During our gift opening time, someone will open the gift that holds our family cross ornament. At that time, we stop the gift opening (wherever we may be in the course of it), they hang the cross on the tree, and DH reads the story from Luke. It is a wonderful tradition that has brought me to tears of joy in past years as my children have one by one begun to recite the Scripture from memory with DH..  I am confident that having a tree with lights on it isn't in conflict with my faith, so I can continue it. 

Maybe I am naive. Maybe I am just simple-minded, but I don't know why it must be so complicated. If you want to sing Jingle Bells (which by the way is a Winter song, not a Christmas song in any way), sing it.  You are responsible for what you choose to do on a daily basis, not just on this day. We live and we try to make decisions that glorify the Kingdom of God and fulfill the great commission DAILY.  If you choose to celebrate the holiday in a way that would honor Christ just as you choose to honor him on any given Tuesday, it won't matter if it is called a "Christian Holiday" or not.  There may be more garland and lights, but I don't bake birthday cakes every day either.   I wouldn't do anything on my family's birth days that would conflict with the faith I am teaching them about and yet  those too are days that we (as a family) honor God's gift to us. So, I guess in a way those are "Christian Holidays" to us too.  Halloween is a truly pagan holiday that we choose not to participate in.  We do celebrate Reformation Day (the same calendar day as Halloween) as a religious holiday. We aren't commanded to, but we feel that the Reformation is an important day in the history of our family's religion.  We don't use it as an excuse to invoke fear in others, throw safety measures we would ordinarily adhere to out of the window, or to participate in the ghoulish traditions that society commonly does.  We don't see that the "holiday" itself is a reason to make exceptions to our lives just as we wouldn't on any other day.

So, all that to say, you don't have to call Christmas a "Christian Holiday" if you don't want to.  However, you should be careful to follow the same set of commandments that you choose to adhere to M-F on any given week. (May I suggest the BIG 10 as a starting place) Whether you choose to label it or not label it something else, doesn't make it a day off from our faith, our message, or our instruction to our children. As long as you are holding every tradition, every act, and every deed up to the light of the Word and it proves valid, who cares what you label it? That is the point. 

Have a good CHRISTmas,  however you choose to celebrate!