As a child in Nigeria, Christmas was the best time/period that anyone could have created…..you get to have weeks off from school and everyone travels to their villages/hometowns and my grandma will treat us like princesses, it was simply amazing.
Over here, we have Santa Claus; in naija, we have Father Christmas (same outfit and everything), just on a black man:) I remember that we will all line up to meet with him & tell him everything that we wanted and then one of his helpers will give you a present that you didn’t really care for (like a pencil or pen or something school-related) but we were still very happy to have meet him so there was no sadness associated with the ‘gift’.
It amazes me the extent that parents would go to prove the existence of a real Santa Claus to their little ones. As a kid, it didn’t matter to me whether Santa/Father Christmas was real or not....it didn’t lessen the celebration for me. Santa or no Claus, I knew that I would still have my entire extended family together, we would still get presents and Christmas money (naija style) and there would still be delicious jollof rice with lots of chicken!
However, in this time of financial uncertainty, I could understand how a kid would have their hopes pinned on Santa because you already know that your parents are struggling to pay bills so your best chance of getting that Wii is via the big man from the North Pole. Things will get better by God’s grace
You often here the phrase ‘Thank God for Santa’……..and it is quite right because Jesus is the reason for the season but He has allowed us to use Santa’s kindness as a symbolism for the season.
God has blessed my honey & I with so much in this last 2.5 years and we are ever so grateful. We had a great time in Dominica (honeymooning) and then when we returned, it was a smooth transition for both of us (awesome apartment, great job, good rotations, family that is down the road, etc).
And now for Christmas, he has give us an additional gift, our new bundle of joy…..He gave it to us 11 weeks early but I could understand His excitement and we receive this gift with pleasure.
Thank you Jesus!
Merry Christmas to you………we love you!
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