I finally sat down to watch Veggie Tales: Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Givingdvd this week. I have to admit that I previewed it before Lydia saw it because I have a “thing” about Santa. Kinda similar to the Easter and Halloween issues I have. I’m not fanatically opposed to the jolly old elf. But we don’t get our picture taken with Santa. I don’t have a lot of Santa paraphernalia at our house. In fact, when Lydia was 2 she saw a giant Santa figurine at the store and said, “Noah!” (*giggle*)

So, I was just wondering where Veggie Tales was going to go with a Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus movie. It started off in modern day with all the veggie kids (Junior, Laura, etc.) discussing all the great things they were going to get from Santa. Junior had a gold coin that he was going to use to buy a gift for himself on top of all the Christmas gifts he was going to get the next day. Bob interrupts their greedy musings by asking them if they know Santa’s real name. This leads them into the story of Saint Nicholas’ life.

Nicholas was a small boy pepper in Greece. His parents loved Jesus and gave freely to everyone around them. They soon died and Nicholas was devastated. He ran away and eventually landed in Israel. He stumbles upon a church and sees a woman giving away bread in Jesus’ name. He recognizes the same love in her that was in his parents. He learns that “we love because He loved. We give because He gave.” (<—that is not an exact quote.)

God eventually tells Nicholas to go back home. When he does he sees his town has been taken over by an evil non-gift-giving gourd. And this is where Nicholas’ gift giving begins. Nicholas hears of three girls (uhm, scallions) that must pay a fine to the gourd or be thrown in jail. He dons a costume (a la Larry-Boy. *snicker*) and drops a bag of gold into a sock drying in the window. He does this for the next two nights and saves all three of the girls.

There is much chasing and rigmarole as Nicholas tries to outwit the Gourd. It’s quite funny and loaded with silly Americanized-Santa humor.

In the end, the veggie kids are inspired by Nicholas’ life. Junior decides to give his gold coin to Laura’s dad so he can fix his broken down work truck. The entire town gets involved and a la It’s a Wonderful Life, Christmas is saved.

WHY EVERY CHILD SHOULD SEE THIS MOVIE:

The turning of greed to giving was perfectly displayed. Nicholas began as an unimpressed kid, had a significant encounter with Jesus and then used his life to show Jesus’ love to others. Veggie Tales is rarely this blatant in their Jesus-ness.

I also loved that this DVD will now be on rotation with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman in living rooms around the country. I love that kids will have a true view of the saint turned legend. When kids can see what the true story is behind this man, I think it will take the glow of magic off of him–in a good way! Overall, I think it will help kids see that the gifts we receive have a history in Jesus’ love and giving.

Not to mention, the movie was hilarious. Mr. Lunt had some great one-liners, as usual. Plus, there are some great partnerships in the Christian music world and with Operation Christmas Child to go along with the movie. They are putting into action the message of this movie.

WHY NOT EVERY CHILD SHOULD SEE THIS MOVIE:

This is why I hate am so over Santa. Do we really have to combine Santa with Jesus’ birth any more? The ending of the movie kind of gave this idea, “Give this Christmas because of baby Jesus. JUST LIKE SAINT NICHOLAS DID.” And although that’s a great sentiment, can’t we give because of Jesus’ gift PERIOD?

For Lydia, who barely understands the difference between Mickey and Santa and Jesus, I think this movie may confuse her further. I’ve been pounding “Santa is a character in a book” for so long that watching a movie that explains Santa IS real and actually has a connection to Jesus might muddy the waters. I’d almost let her watch Prep and Landing or Holly and Hal because it’s so out there that it has nothing to do with our our family traditions. I mean, the North Pole, elves and a flying reindeer seem fictional. So, Santa seems fictional. Does that make sense?

I might wait till next year until we watch this Saint Nicholas movie. Last year Lydia still didn’t even know who Santa was. This year she’s recognizing him and talking about him all with the underlying knowledge that he’s “not real”. When I ask her who Santa is or what his deal is she says, “He’s just pretend. He’s in a book!” Next year she’ll start hearing her friends talk about him and realize they believe he’s real. So, then we can take it a step further by finding out about his origins.

Overall, I think it’s a great one to own. But if you have small kids and you are trying to steer them away from believing in Santa, you’ll just have to decide if this movie helps or hurts your efforts.

Did you see the movie? What did you think? Did your kids like it?

I’ve got a few more Santa posts lined up—perspectives from all over. Stay tuned, we’d love to hear what you have to say, too!

Last night we did our first family devotional time. OK, it wasn’t exactly a devotional. But it was a family activity. And it was about Jesus. So, I’m going to call it a devotional.

We sat down together and read The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. Then we acted it out. Here’s how it went:

First we picked out a beautiful pumpkin from the pumpkin patch grocery store. Then we washed it off and opened it up! (Psalm 51:10)

Then we cleaned him out–all the hidden, dirty things inside! (Ezekiel 11:18-20)

We gave our pumpkin a new face! (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Finally, our pumpkin was lit from the inside and shining for the whole world to see!
(Matthew 5:16)

The Pumpkin Patch Parable tells this same story in more details and gives scriptures every step of the way. The scriptures and the story point to the miracle that Jesus does in our lives–he chooses us, washes us off, takes away all our dirty sin, gives us a new heart, a smile on our face and a light to shine to the world! It’s a beautiful picture and a long-standing object lesson that we are able to see for  weeks to come! Lydia and I were chanting, “Let your light shine! Matthew 5:16!” the whole time we were looking at our shining new pumpkin. It made quite an impression!

I know this is a blatant rip-off of the Halloween Jack-o-Lantern. Liz Curtis Higgs describes it as redeeming something that God created–a pumpkin. And can I say something else? God knew. God knew people would use the pumpkin as something scary. And that his creation would be a symbol for a mostly evil holiday. And I think he put this symbolism together for this very purpose–to redeem it and remind us how He has redeemed us!

This is an excellent book with sweet pictures and a very profound message. I encourage you to get this book even if you don’t do the carving of a pumpkin together. It will help your kids associate a pumpkin (or jack-o-lantern) with God’s love instead of with Halloween!

See my review of Liz Curtis Higg’s The Pine Tree Parable! One of my FAVORITE Christmas books!

Surprise! More books to giveaway! I cannot say enough about these books…obviously, I made a whole video about them. So, instead of more words just watch…

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:: :: ::
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photo by photoholic1

Today Lydia and I read all the books on her bookshelf that had to do with Jesus’ death and resurrection (aka “easter”). I know at 3 years old she can’t understand it. She doesn’t even know what death is. She’s never experienced it or known someone who died. But today, as I held her in my arms and read 5 or 6 versions of the greatest story ever told, I got tears in my eyes. I know that the truth of Jesus’ love for us will be planted in her heart.

The book I love the most for “easter” is The Parable Of The Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs. This is part of a series that gives a meaningful parable (aren’t all parables meaningful?) to common holiday items (like my favorite Christmas book, The Parable of the Christmas Tree).

The Parable of the Lily is about a little girl, Maggie who gets a surprise package in the mail—a box of dirt! She is disappointed and places it on a shelf. One day she accidentally knocks it over and out of the dirt pops a flower bulb. She is aggravated at her plant and throws it into the yard. Early Easter morning, she walks out into the garden to see that her dirty ugly boring bulb has blossomed into a beautiful lily!

The parable-ness comes in when you read the scriptures on the bottom of each page. Higgs uses scriptures to compare Jesus to this flower—an unimpressive man, hated and rejected by his people, dead in the ground for three days, bursts forth with new life for everyone. She also ties in Maggie’s father as the giver of the gift…just like God’s indescribable gift of Jesus to us.

It’s a beautiful book. I read it to Lydia once, then again with the scriptures. I wish I had thought of it earlier and we would have planted a lily, too. What an object lesson for her to see growing in her own front yard!

We also read The Easter Story by Tracy Harrast. It’s part of the Peek-a-Bible series, a fun lift-the-flap series. I like this one because it tells all the important parts of the story—Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane, the crucifixion, the resurrection, Jesus’ appearance to the disciples and his ascension.

The very last page does have a picture of some modern day kids holding Easter baskets, but at least it doesn’t talk about eggs or bunnies.

Then we “read” my new favorite version of the Resurrection story from the See With Me Bible: The Bible Told in Pictures by Dennis Jones.

There are no words. Just pictures. And it is breathtaking. Jones absolutely captures the emotion of the story. It is the only book of all our books that actually showed Jesus in pain and with wounds (cartoon-ish, but still…). I couldn’t find any online to share with you but I highly recommend this book!

The last book you could probably see coming a mile away since I have probably blogged about it 80 times. Yes, its the The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd Jones.

There are about six different stories surrounding Jesus’ passion–Mary anointing Jesus’ feet, Jesus washing the disciples’ feet at the last supper, the garden of Gethsemane, the crucifixion, the resurrection, Jesus appearing to the disciples & ascension. Here’s the best part…

“If you were really the Son of God, you could just climb down off that cross!” they said.

And of course they were right…But Jesus stayed. You see, they didn’t understand. It wasn’t the nails that kept Jesus there. It was love.

“Papa?” Jesus cried, frantically searching the sky. “Papa? Where are you? Don’t leave me!”

And for the first time–and the last–when he spoke, nothing happened. Just a horrible endless silence. God didn’t answer. He turned away from his Boy.

Tears rolled down Jesus’ face. The face of the One who would wipe away every tear from every eye…

The full force of the storm of God’s fierce anger at sin was coming down. On his own Son. Instead of his people. It was the only way God could destroy sin, and not destroy his children whose hearts were filled with sin.

Then Jesus shouted out in a loud voice, “It is finished!”

And it was. He had done it. Jesus had rescued the whole world.

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Don’t miss out on this opportunity to impress your kids’ heart with God’s ultimate story this easter season. Grab these books and give them in (or in place of) an easter basket. Then, make them a part of your book rotation, not just at easter-time—this is the story that should be central to your kids’ lives…and to yours!

Do you have a favorite easter book to share?

Ever since I first realized that the word “Easter” wasn’t even in the Bible I’ve just had a “eh” feeling about the holiday. It just makes me feel weird that the day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection is so tightly wrapped in a convoluted earthy-pagany-american holiday. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Cadbury eggs. I loved getting a new Easter dress as a kid. I absolutely believe your kids will grow up to love the Lord if they believed in the Easter bunny.

HOWEVER.

As a mom who wants to use every second, every event, every story, every holiday and everything within me to impress my kids, I just try to separate Easter from the Resurrection of Jesus.

When Lydia was just a year old, I headed to the Christian bookstore to pick up some books about Jesus’ death and resurrection. I figured there’d be tons of good stuff. But I was very disappointed when I started looking around. Every single solitary book had “Easter” in the title. Yeah, I know, that’s what we call it. But still! Not even one book called, “Jesus is Alive!” or “Alive Again!” or “HOSANNA!” Not to mention you can’t even buy a kids’ book about Jesus’ resurrection any other time during the year. (Just like you can’t buy a book about Jesus’ birth except at Christmas.)

But I’m getting side-tracked. Let’s step off that soapbox and get to the real reason for this post!

I want to share one of our favorite “Easter” books with you. This is one of the books I picked up that day and even though it in fact called Easter, Easter Almost Here!, it’s actually about Palm Sunday. (WHICH IS THIS SUNDAY! Where did the time go?!)

We read this book year round. It’s a great rhyme, fun pictures, cute peek-a-boo cut outs, shiny, sparkly colors and a solid re-telling of the story of Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem. I like having a book that is about this specific event because it tends to get lumped together with the next week in Jesus’ life.

Lydia and I can practically say it by heart. I’ve even heard her chanting it while playing or “reading” other books.

If you are looking for an “easter” book or a great intro to this important season, I highly recommend this book!