Raylen woke up on Christmas morning at 4:30am. She came to our door and began beating on it calling for me to wake up. As an official Santa's Elf, I had only gone to bed 3 1/2 hours earlier so it was a bit hard for me to drag myself out of the warm bed to answer her calls. When I got to the door, my little blonde girl, dressed in her red plaid Christmas nightgown and still rubbing her eyes, told me that she had just seen Santa. She put her hand over her mouth as she always does when she has just told or heard something so amazing she can't even believe it. Still groggy I asked her to repeat it and she told me the same thing. "Honey, I think you were dreaming", I said. "No. I saw him, Mommy" she replied. Raylen then told me a whole story about how she had been dreaming and something woke her up. She said she saw Santa at her window tapping on it and waving. Then, she said he got in his sleigh and flew away with the reindeer after he wished her Merry Christmas. I shook my head with a grin on my face and hugged her and told her that was a fantastic story. She hadn't even seen what was under the tree yet, so I directed her to look while I tried to wake up and reflect on what she'd just told me.
Now, I have to admit that throughout the morning I kept thinking about the story. Raylen had told me the story in such vivid detail that it seemed magical and convincing-I really wanted to believe it too! This thought puzzled me. I am a grown woman who has been VERY well aware of the details of Christmas wonderment for some time. I KNOW in my mind that there is no way in the world that Raylen saw Santa Claus at her window. Yet my heart, soft, whimsical and always looking for a fairytale, somehow wanted to believe that the joke had been on me all along and that truly, for me and Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
Later that day, still thinking about the story as I recalled it for other family members, the Lord spoke to me about my belief in other things...namely Him. I was reminded about how easily it is to be swayed by others thoughts and beliefs and of course by the media and our culture. I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is God and Jesus is His son, all God and all man, died on the cross after leading a sinless life and rose from the grave three days later and that by faith in Him I will live in Eternity with Him and others who trust in Him. These things are non negotiables and I KNOW them to be true like I KNOW that I am breathing right now. But, somedays, when I've watched way too much television or I've read too much garbage, I think, what if they're right? What if I'm wrong? When I question those things I know are truths, I go back to point A and I am reminded of what and who Truth is.
The Lord used my daughter's fanciful dramatization of Santa to remind me of the importance to guard my heart and mind from lies and thoughts that are only half truths. The Bible says, "Above all, guard your heart for out of it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23. I'm going to do a better job of that in 2009...this I resolve.
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