Commercialized Holidays

With "Easter" here, I am both pleased to be able to serve a Mighty God who gave his only Son for my sins and both saddened by the thought that so many don't know Him. I grew up with Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, but I was also aware of the real "Reason for the Season," thanks to my mother who took us to church and never gave me a reason to doubt that there was a God.

Today, I'm not sure how many generations younger than I actually know why we really celebrate these holidays. They are very much commercialized and parents don't seem to talk to their kids about God and Jesus as much as they used to. I don't know why, I'm guessing they don't know how, aren't sure about the facts themselves, or just really don't care. To me these holidays are serious and very precious. In our home we have decided not to invite Santa and the Easter Bunny in to share in our celebration. Some people think, "Oh your poor kids" or that we are "Taking away a part of childhood" but I don't think that is true. Many times kids put Jesus in the same category as Santa and the Easter Bunny and guess what happens when they finally find out that Santa and the Easter Bunny aren't real? They start to wonder what else you have made up and they start to doubt their belief in God and Jesus. The world tries to give people so many reasons to doubt, I don't want to hand out reasons for my girls to doubt the existence of God and Jesus. I want my girls to trust me to tell them the truth and to be honest with them. I know at times I will fail miserably because I am human, but I pray that the times I fail will not permanently damage them in the long run.