God, Bring Me a Godzilla!

"Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights." (James 1:16-17)

As we raised our boys we faced the same question that many Christian parents face. What about Santa Claus? What were we going to teach and tell our boys?

We decided to treat Santa Claus like any of their favorite cartoon characters. We had Santa salt shakers and ornaments. We also took time to read to them a book called, "Santa, Are You for Real?" It was helpful in teaching about St. Nicholas and how he helped people.

One of the things my husband and I decided, was not to tell the boys that things under the tree came from Santa. We wanted them to know, that "every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above." As a result, even though they sat on Santa's lap at the mall, we would continually remind them, that everything we received came from God.

When my oldest son, Mark, was three his new baby brother was born. It was around Christmas and we celebrated his new brother as a wonderful gift. As always, with a newborn, I was kept very busy. Mark was helpful, but our one on one time was definitely rare.

One day while taking care of Stephen, I realized that Mark had disappeared into another room of the house. He was very quiet and that could mean trouble! I quickly went into the hall and noticed the door to his room was almost shut. I quietly went to the door and looked in. There was my three year old son on his knees in the middle of his room. His head was down in his hands and I heard the words, "Dear God, would you please bring me a Godzilla for Christmas? My mom says you can do anything. Thank you.

It was the sweetest moment for me, as it was the first time I had ever heard Mark pray alone, on his own. It was also a terrifying moment, because I did not know what a Godzilla was, but knew I had to find it!

After searching, I found it was a two foot tall, plastic, green monster. Not the kind of thing I wanted to buy my three year old son. Yet, I did.

On Christmas, we took Godzilla out of the box and set him unwrapped under the tree. A very ugly toy under a beautiful Christmas tree. Mark was up early and came to get us. We picked up Stephen and headed for the living room, Mark leading the way.

When Mark reached the tree he came to a dead stop. He stood very still and just stared at the tree. Then he looked back at us with big eyes and said, "Dad, mom, God heard me! God gave me a Godzilla!" He ran to the tree, hugged that ugly, plastic toy, looked to heaven and said, "Oh thank You God, I love You!"

This Christmas remember where every good and perfect gift comes from. Stop and tell God - Thank You, I love You.

Of course, the most precious, good and perfect gift, is Jesus! Thank You God, I love You!