Mary, Did You Know?

Dear Sprout,
We're coming up on your second Christmas, and I'm thinking about the way that your birth has changed the way I view the entire Christmas story. As a teenage girl, I identified with Mary as a scared girl facing the unknown, but as your mother, I identify with her in a totally different way. Last year, I remember nursing you on Christmas Eve after reading the Christmas story to you and your cousins, and thinking about Mary, holding her newborn in that bare stable and doing the same; thinking about his future.

This year, I've had almost 18 months to watch you grow toward the man you will be someday. While I may not have been given an announcement from an angel that you are born to great things, I pray and believe that you have been. While I pray that I never have to face the loss that loomed in Mary's future, I do hope that you will make a huge impact for God. I pray that your father and I will give you and Teeny good examples to emulate, and that you will greatly surpass both of us. My greatest wish for you is that you grow "in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

Love Always,

Mommy

Why I Hope You'll Believe In Santa Claus

Dear Teeny and Sprout,
With Christmas fast approaching, I find myself thinking about the traditions I want to pass on to the two of you; the ones I treasure most from my own childhood, and the ones I want to create in our home. My greatest wish is for both of you to understand that the reason for this holiday is not the pile of presents you will undoubtedly find under our brightly glowing Christmas tree. I hope that you  will always understand that the reason we celebrate is because of the greatest Gift that God ever gave mankind, His only son.
Your grandparents, my mom and dad, did a good job of teaching this to me in so many ways. One of my earliest Christmas memories is shivering in your Pap's bathrobe layered over my winter coat, playing a little shepherd in our church's outdoor nativity while they sang songs of praise to a newborn king. I remember my quiet awe as my grandma would let me lovingly wrap the baby Jesus for her nativity scene and lay him in the manger on Christmas Eve. When other children left out cookies and milk for Santa, we made rice krispie treats, put a candle in them, and sang happy birthday to Jesus.
To be honest, I don't remember ever really believing in Santa. My parents never told me he didn't exist, nor was he ever used as a threat for good behavior in the month of December. I had a vague belief that grandma's cousin Tom was the real Santa Claus, as he was the man in a bright red suit with a snowy white beard that I saw every Christmas Eve before we opened presents. I've developed more of a belief in Santa Claus as an adult than I ever had as a child, and its because of what I've come to realize about him that I hope I can foster a sense of belief in the two of you.
You see, as an adult, I've come to realize that Santa Claus is not some magical elf who lives at the North Pole, watches your every move, and rewards good behavior one night of the year. Santa Claus is the potential in all of us to do good for others, not just at Christmas, but all year round. He is the representation of the real magic of human kindness, of our ability to make the world a better place, one small act at a time. Santa Claus is the bell ringer who loans a panicked girl his cell phone. He is the little boy packing a shoebox for less fortunate children. He is the mother who mothers her children's friends who need her. He is the father who leaves an $80 tip for his single-mother waitress. He is a seasonal representation of the extravagant love of God, and how He can use every one of us to make life a little brighter.
That, my little ones, is why I hope you'll always believe in Santa Claus, because he is the best in all of us.

Love Always,

Mommy