It’s completely natural to get lost in everything the Christmas season has to offer. The list is endless, some moments are magical, and others are mundane, bordering frustrating.
The magical elements include baking an assortment of Christmas cookies, decking your halls in fa-la-la fashion, caroling in your neighborhood, and watching loved ones open your carefully thought-out presents.
However, the mundane and frustration can easily seep into all of these magical moments — worrying about the mess that all of these cookies are making, arguing where exactly the Christmas Tree should go, and the most frustrating, budgeting and then shopping for the perfect presents.
Yet, when the snow begins to fall, and I feel the descent of Christmas, it erases those feelings, and I feel joy in life once more. Everything feels so festive, people come together more easily, and as the streets fill with fairy lights, glimmering silver, gold, red, and green, it feels almost magical — like anything could happen.
Christmas has always been an enchanting time for me. I cannot properly describe what this time of year does to me. It fills me with such unbridled joy — joy that I remember feeling as a child, joy in the way it brings families together, the way it brings my family together.
And I can say with absolute confidence it was all because of my mom. As a single mother of three, she made the conscience decision to bring all of the magic that Christmas had to offer, which included believing in Santa Claus, his reindeer, and even Rudolph, who led the sleigh by night with his nose so bright, and the elves in the North Pole tinkering toys for all the good boys and girls.
As a single parent, she would have to get creative, blending the practicalities with the magic of Christmas. In order to buy our gifts from “Santa,” she would take us to the mall (remember when those were the main source of Christmas shopping?) and say she had to give Santa our Christmas lists when, in reality, she would be handing over a check to layaway, until she could pick them up on Christmas Eve — so that we would be none the wiser.
And to incentivize us to clean up the living room at night, she said the elves would bring us stocking-stuffers the 12 nights before Christmas. We complied and went up to bed “while sugar plums danced in our heads.”
No matter the hurdles or struggles she was facing, she always made Christmas “the most wonderful time of the year” for us. As an adult, it continues to astound me the lengths she went through in her circumstances to “help make the season bright.”
How to Keep Jesus at the Center of Christmas
She also made another important decision — the reason for the season — that we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, first and foremost.
Now, the tradition of Santa Claus has caused a lot of controversy in Christian circles. I believe the choice lies entirely up to individual parents regarding what specific traditions are brought into their homes.
My mom was very aware of how Jesus could get wrapped up or buried in the fantasy of Santa Claus and Christmas itself, even if completely by accident. She knew the very real possibility that when we stopped believing in Santa, Jesus could also go right along with him.
Children will follow the same logic of believing in Santa as God, as both take belief and faith in a figure unseen. It can be quite easy to dismiss both lovable Christmas “characters.”
So, it is important to differentiate Jesus Christ and Santa Claus during the Christmas time merriments. My mom was determined to make sure that Jesus Christ was exalted and celebrated as absolute truth not only at Christmas but throughout the entire year.
My sisters and I grew up with three traditions that brought Jesus front and center at Christmas:
1. The Christmas Chain
Before December, we would all work together to make a green and red Christmas chain out of construction paper that would hang on our fireplace above our stockings that were “hung by the chimney with care.”
Starting December 1, we would turn out all the lamps, allowing only the twinkle lights from the Christmas Tree to illuminate the room.
We sat on the floor all huddled together to listen to my mom read the birth of Jesus from the Bible, and as we got older, we would all take turns reading passages from Luke 2.
Then, in brilliantly teaching us how to share, we would also take turns removing one chain a night, counting down the days until Christmas.
2. Reading the Nativity Story
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12).
As I said, we would all read the story of Jesus’ birth every night until Christmas Day. Whereas Santa Claus was talked about a few times throughout Christmas, leaving cookies and milk out for him on Christmas Eve, it was the truth of Jesus Christ that would end our day. We were left with the certainty of our Lord and Savior.
I think our favorite part of the Nativity was the roles that the animals played. As huge animal lovers, we loved the presence of Mary and Joseph’s donkey, the sheep in the field who were in the angels’ presence, and the camels that carried the Wisemen and their gifts. It wasn’t until we were older that we learned of the symbolism of these animals in the Kingdom of God, which only enhanced the truth.
3. A Birthday Cake for Jesus
Only one chain remains on the fireplace, as it is finally Christmas Day! Because we were children, and our attention spans could only take so much, my mom would let us open our presents, and I think also, this was time for her to have her cup of coffee and wake up for the day’s festivities.
After opening, marveling and playing with our presents, we would then make two cakes on Christmas Day. One for my grandad, who was born on Christmas Day, and the other for Jesus.
We celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ in the most traditional way ever. I would like to think that Jesus enjoyed the idea of us making him a modern-day birthday cake on Christmas Day. We would then bring our granddad’s cake and open their presents to us!
Why Does This Matter?
Writing this article recaptured the Christmas magic that I felt as a child, my love and admiration for my family, especially my mom, and ultimately, my love and faith in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The traditions and magic of Christmas are absolutely wonderful, and these are just a few examples of how you can keep Jesus at the center of everything Christmas has to offer, just as it was meant to be.
For further reading:
4 Ways How Your Children Can Love Both Jesus and Santa at Christmas
How Do We Inwardly Prepare for Christmas?
Does the Variety of Advent Calendars Distract Us from Their True Meaning?
Is There a ‘Right’ Way to Have a Christmas Tree?
What Is the Meaning of Christmas?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/kipgodi
Molly Law is the Editor of C.com. She has a Master of Arts in Publishing Studies from the University of Stirling, UK, where she studied and lived for a year in Scotland. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Professional Writing from Gardner-Webb University. Her editorial career includes Senior Editor of a bimonthly magazine for the nonprofit ACA and Editorial Assistant at Luath Press in Edinburgh, UK. She enjoys reading 18th-century British Literature, creative writing, and traveling.
