By Bev Davis
Ask Ethan or Emma Buckland, ages 9 and 6, respectively, if they’re excited about Santa Claus, and you’ll be surprised to find these two youngsters pretty unimpressed about a guy in a red and white suit who delivers presents in the dark of night.
Talk to them about giving and receiving presents, Christmas music with a Christian message and using an Advent jar from which they select acts of service to accomplish between now and Dec. 25, and you’ll see eyes light up and begin to hear excitement in their voices.
“When I was little and found out Santa doesn’t exist, I thought that was too cool,” Ethan said. “We know now who really brings us the presents. And when I think about that song about being naughty or nice, I think we should be nice all year long, not just so we can get presents.”
Emma likes the evening tradition of munching on candy and listening to her daddy read Bible stories.
“I liked the one about when the angel came to Mary and told her she would be a mommy to Jesus.”
She also likes practicing her role as Mary for an upcoming Christmas play at Northgate Baptist Church in Beckley, where the Bucklands are members, and where her mom wrote the play titled, “Christmas: It’s Not About the Colors.”
Their parents, Greg and Jamie Buckland of Shady Spring, stopped promoting the Santa Claus idea a few years back. They attempt to focus Christmas, not only on the birth of Jesus Christ, but on His mission on Earth and the belief He will return some day.
“A lot of people do Santa because everybody else does,” Jamie Buckland said. “We have never played up Santa. Our kids think it’s weird when people ask them if they’re waiting for Santa. At the same time, we want them to be approachable and not be confrontational about it. We’re trying to teach them to be gracious when people ask and to know they don’t have to be embarrassed because they celebrate Christmas without Santa.”
“It all started when our daughter turned around in church one day and asked us if Santa Claus is real,” Greg said. “I don’t believe you should lie to your kids, especially in church, so I told her no and explained Christmas is all because of Jesus Christ.”
He isn’t worried about squelching their imagination or taking away the magic of Christmas.
“I think we all enjoy Christmas more because we’re focused on its true meaning,” he said. “We teach our kids about love and respect and about helping others and giving gifts to each other because God has blessed us as a family. Our children are gifts to us, and we haven’t enjoyed Christmas any less at all because Santa isn’t in the picture.”
Jamie said they want to encourage their children to do the right things for the right reasons.
“We don’t want to set our children up for a life based on being good or being nice so someone will bring you presents. We believe in the grace of God and how we don’t earn salvation or God’s love. Those are free gifts to us. We teach our children that we give them presents because we love them, and we receive things from them because they love us. Gifts aren’t something we earn.”
The Bucklands set a spending limit and steer away from trends and competition in giving gifts.
“We don’t want to be caught up in the latest and the greatest. We look for things our children will enjoy and appreciate. I know parents who are out frantically searching for more presents because they’ve spent a certain amount of money on one child and feel they have to spend an equal amount on the other. Greg and I just don’t want to be caught up in all of that.”
Ethan and Emma make gifts for their cousins and enjoy getting gifts that have been made for them.
“It’s neat to know somebody thought about your favorite color and about what you might really like,” Jamie said. “Children have to be taught how to be grateful and appreciative. That doesn’t just happen. If they can learn to really enjoy a gift that was given to them or made especially for them, they develop that sense of true gratitude, and that’s something we all need to do, regardless of our age.”
The family enjoys a number of ways to build anticipation throughout the Advent season.
An Advent jar, for example, is a project they make together.
Ethan painted a spaghetti jar, and Emma chose a smaller pickle jar for her work of art.
Inside are slips of paper. On each is written a small act of service the child will perform that day as part of the “countdown” to Christmas.
It might be, “Call Papaw and tell him you love him,” or, “Pray for a family in our church today.” Another might list a good deed that needs to be done.
“The Advent jar helps us focus on service and ministry. Our children have been on some mission trips and have seen the needs of people less fortunate. We want them to grow up looking for ways to help other people,” Jamie said.
The Christmas season carries out the theme of teaching Christian principles all year long, she added.
“We talk about why God sent Christ and why we are waiting for Him to come back again. We give and receive presents because we are celebrating everything about Jesus, not just His birthday. In fact, we talk about how we don’t even know for sure Dec. 25 is the Lord’s birthday. That’s an honest celebration of Christmas,” Buckland said.
Greg is a phone Internet technician for FiberNet. Jamie is a full-time mom, BeautiControl consultant and home schools her children.
When people say, “Why would you want to be home all day with your children,” Jamie chuckles and responds, “Why would I want to raise children I don’t want to be around?”
Although the children study the same subjects as their peers in classrooms, biblical principles are woven in through every topic.
“It boggles my mind that so many parents don’t think about a child’s soul,” she said. “When we have to stand before God some day and answer for how we raised our children, we don’t want to have all those coulda, shoulda, woulda things to deal with. Our whole thing is to be proactive parents. With lots of prayer and the day-to-day teaching and example, we want to make sure our kids don’t grow up without experiencing God’s grace. We want them to know and remember Christ is the center of all we do — all year long, not just on Christmas Day.”
— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com
