Thursday, December 25, 2008

Dear Santa,


My Dearest Rachel,
Thank you so much for your letter. It was so nice of you to take the time to write me. Your mom and dad have been very proud of you and your brother this year. Even though you don't always get along, I know that you love each other very much. Sometimes brothers and sisters just get on each other's nerves! You are such a sweet girl. I especially love the way you are always concerned about someone else's feelings, even when they have been unkind to you. It takes a very special person to love that way.
Now as to your question of whether or not I am real. The simple answer is yes, I am. The complete answer requires a bit more complicated explanation. There are many boys and girls of all ages that either believed in me at one time, then stopped believing, or simply have never believed in me. There are even some boys and girls that have never heard of me, if you can believe that! Rachel, what I would like you to understand is that your belief in me makes me real. For as long as your heart tells you that there is a Santa Claus, that is where I will be. For those who say I am not real, I do not exist; for those who believe, I do exist.
I would also like to clear up a little rumor about me that has been going around since before I can remember. It is not true that only good boys and girls get presents from Santa. There are many very good children that get very little; there are others who have been very naughty indeed, yet get lots of toys. The decisions about who gets what toys I must leave to their moms and dads. It is not my place to make these choices.
The truth of the matter is that none of us are truly good except for Jesus. And Christmas is about celebrating God coming to earth in the form of a little baby born in Bethlehem. There may come a day when you no longer believe in me, and I want you to know that that is okay with me. Like I said before, I exist in the hearts of those who choose to believe in me. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, has no such limitations. He is real whether you choose to believe in Him or not, and He loves all of us so very much that He left His perfect home with God so we could someday join Him there. I know I am very special to you, and I appreciate that very much. But I also know you understand that Christmas is not about me; it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus -- the very best gift of all. A very Merry Christmas to you.

Love,

Kris Kringle
aka Santa Claus

P. S. - Thanks for the milk and cookies. Chocolate Chip are my favorite!


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done!

Mary Ann said...

hmmm...well done and way to think out of the box. I am really curious about her reaction!!

Did you type it? Was it written in your handwriting?

So fun.

Hope you and your family have a blast this morning.

Emmy said...

That's very sweet! It answers some questions I've always had about being a Christian and teaching your kids about Santa. We haven't done that with our 5-year-old, he understands that Santa is not real, but Jesus is the real reason we celebrate Christmas. And would you believe I've been accused of "stealing" Christmas for my son for those decisions? Anyway, I'm always interested in seeing how other Christian families handle this dilemma, and I really love your take on this.

Merry Christmas!

Beth said...

Ok, so I'm up before everyone on Christmas morning feeding the baby, getting the turkey going (Yikes! I'm cooking AGAIN!), and this was the perfect thing to start my day.

"The truth of the matter is that none of us are truly good except for Jesus. And Christmas is about celebrating God coming to earth in the form of a little baby born in Bethlehem."

Won't lie...I got misty-eyed with this. Amen, Santa!! (And you are one awesomely wise mom.)

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Katdish and Company!

Helen said...

Wow! Santa left a really nice letter for Rachel. And everything Santa said is true.
Mare, don't you think he probably dictated the letter to one of his elves, and then signed it. Santa would probably suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome if he wrote or typed all those letters himself. Then how would he control the reindeer? You have to think these things through all the way...
Beth, I am sure your turkey will be awesome!
Sherri, back at ya!
Katdish, thank you for sharing Santa's sweet letter to your daugher. You did get her permission to post it, didn't you. Tampering with other person's mail is a federal offense.....

Anonymous said...

EMILY - tell me how that has worked for you. Honestly. I have been in an ongoing argument with my husband about it because he thinks that I will be completely ruining Christmas for our future children. I say the only way it could be ruined is if Christ were not real! Anyway, I don't want to lie to my kids.


Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Billy Coffey said...

That Santa is a very wise fellow, and Rachel is a very blessed little girl.

It's the middle of July, and I can almost smell a pine Christmas tree. Awesome.