Christmas In July

The Heart For Mom Team is happy to publish this new blog post provided by Andrea Murphy, church planting pastor's wife and homeschooling momma of four children ages 12, 8, 3, & 2. She says, "Life is busy... but busy means work... and anything "worth it" is worth working for!" 

Andrea and her husband, Jeremy, pastor Access Church. They are the founding pastors, having launched Access Church in September of 2009. Andrea loves to read, write, bake yummy things, plan events for the people she loves, and create fun things from not much. 

Christmas In July

Solidly in the month of July, we are past what is affectionately known as
The Holidays

I love that for some reason July is a month that just begs for a little bit of Christmas! So... haul out the holly. We're gonna have a little Christmas now!

When my son (who is now twelve) was only 3 1/2 years old, there was a moment that Christmas season that stood out more than any other. This one event has stayed with me through all of his other Christmases and -  I hope - this moment is one that I will always remember.

It was right after Thanksgiving of 2009 and Santa had arrived in the mall. It was his first day on the job for the season. Of course, being an adult, I was thinking that it was far too early in the season to visit Santa... but my T caught a glimpse of him and was spellbound. The year prior, he was only 3 1/2 years old when he visited Santa and he had reacted just fine... but being the ever-teacher... I just couldn't expect him to remember all the Santa/Kid protocol - so we sat down on a bench for a quick chat about what he was going to experience.

The conversation went like this:

T: Oh wow, mommy! I want to go over there! I want to go see him!

Mommy: Well sure, Baby. Now, when we get in the line to see Santa we have to wait our turn. When the kid in front of us leaves, we can go. And when we see Santa, we can ask him to bring you something special for Christmas! Would you like to do that?

Big Eyes: Yeeeaaaah!

Mommy: Ok, now let's see. What did Santa bring you last year? You got books and some blocks... Those were fun weren't they! 

Bigger Eyes: Oh Yeeeaaaah!

Mommy: Can you think of anything that you'd like to get from Santa this year?

[silence]

Any special toy?

[silence]

Maybe something fun to play with?

[silence]

Well, ok, you can think about it while we're in line.

Big Eyes: Oh-KAY!!!

So off we march to wait in line. There wasn't much of a wait being so soon after Thanksgiving so we were at the front of the line fairly quickly. The child in front of us was finished talking to Santa - so, just as we rehearsed, T was ready to go.

But just before he stepped out, I leaned down to him one last time and asked, "Baby, have you thought of anything fun that you'd like for Santa to bring you?"

That's when the moment happened:

He looked up at me with huge, brown eyes filled with wonder, then he looked at Santa, who was by now waiting for us to come on over. He looked back up at me and said, in an awe-filled whisper:

"Mommy... I just want to tell him hi."

It was in that moment that I fully grasped the understanding of what Jesus meant (and what he intended for us to grasp) when he stated that no one could enter heaven unless they became as a little child.

In all my adult "wisdom" and in my vast experience with Santa/Kid Protocol...
In my habit of discussing things with my child in an effort to allow him to feel comfortable and confident in new situations...

I had completely forgotten that my 3 1/2 year old was amazed just with

WHO. SANTA. WAS.

He was in awe - just by being near him.

He was breathless that he was standing in front of THE Santa.

He just wanted to be close to him.

To be near him.

He just wanted to tell him hi.

Immediately my heart was turned to God. How long had it been since I had grasped that same child-like understanding of just being near him?
Of just wanting to say hello to my Father?

Not to quickly roll-out my never-ending to-do list for him.
But just to tell him hi.

That's hard for us grown-up, wise, mature people, isn't it? It's hard because as you get older, life comes with demands, expectations, pressures, sorrows, and heartaches.

And SURE - God really does care about those things! Definitely.

But I think that's why he said that in order for us to have REAL life in him, to have a real relationship with him, to really get to understand who he is and what he's all about, we have to come to him as a little child.

Open, amazed, and full of wonder.

I'll never forget his reaction and how it spoke to my heart. How it challenged me in a silent night, holy night sort of way.

Let's take a quick break from whatever is in front of us.
Just really quickly - take just a second to go tell him hi.

Copyright 2018 - Andrea Murphy