Santa vs. The Nativity

Every year I look forward to Christmas. I love shopping. I love wrapping. I love surprising my friends and family with gifts. I like the decorations and the lights and, yes, I like the food a lot.

That sums it up. A time of friends, family, gifts, food, and decorations. A time for me to spend a little (or a lot) of money on my family to show them that I care- and just for fun.

I do like that at Christmas time everyone seems a little more happy. A little more generous and loving. That's certainly an added bonus to the friends, family, gifts, food, and decorations.

However, there is one thing I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT LIKE about this time of year. And that is what Christians have turned it into. I do not appreciate that Christians (and yes, I am one) have tried to make December 25th something it's not- the birthday of Jesus.

First of all, let me state quite clearly that I have no problem with a family or individual deciding that they want to take a day out of the year to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christ's birth is most certainly worthy of celebration. The sacrifice our God and Father made for us- sending His one Son as a vulnerable child who would soon die for all of mankind- will forever make me stand in awe. I cannot describe to you, reader, the love I know when I realize that Jesus was placed into the care of sinful people as a baby. I can't tell you the emotion I feel when I know this world had nothing better for Him than a dirty stable. This is something that I think of often. It is something I thank God for at every opportunity. And please have no doubt that I celebrate the birth of my Lord.

However, the special celebration of Jesus' birth on December 25th of every year is neither commanded, nor is it accurate. Jesus was not born on December 25th (well, I suppose there is a 1 in 365 and 1/4th chance that He was). Celebrate the virgin birth throughout your life. And celebrate it on the 25th of December if you like, but please, please do not proclaim to the world that Jesus was born on that day.

Digging deeper into this issue, I see a great problem among Christians. That problem is that we are being inconsistent. This year, for some reason, I noticed more than ever a theme of "Santa is a lie." coming from Christians. The point being that if you tell your children there is a Santa, you are lying to them and that is sinful. Let me ask, with all respect, is it any LESS of a lie to tell your children that Jesus was born on December 25th? Let me submit to you that saying Jesus was born on December 25th is not only a lie, it is adding to Scripture (Revelation 22:18). God's Word never tells us when exactly Jesus is born, nor does it specifically tell us to celebrate that day. We ARE commanded to gather around the Lord's table to proclaim His death until He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26) But celebrating the birth of Jesus is not something we're told to do on any specific occasion in any specific way.

As far as Santa is concerned, children naturally have an imagination. My sister and I, much like any other little girls, used to pretend we were princesses living in a fine castle. Did my parents punish us and tell us we were lying? Certainly not. My parents know that lying is a sin. But they also know that using your imagination is not a lie.

That being said, if you do not want to play along with the Santa game, then don't. I won't tell you not to celebrate the "birthday" of Jesus if you won't tell me to stop believing in Santa. After all, in our house if you don't believe in Santa you don't get any gifts.

All of this to say, I think Christians really... really need to evaluate how we use Christmas. Do not treat other Christians, or non Christians, like they are wrong or sinful for enjoying the story of Santa and focusing on gifts. Children can enjoy opening presents without being "materialistic". Please realize that Christmas, to most people, really is not about the birth of Jesus. It's about the above mentioned friends, family, gifts, food, and decorations. And is that WRONG? No! A healthy family or individual can keep things in perspective while enjoying a holiday that is really just an excuse to have some fun. So whether you're singing Silent Night or Santa Clause is Coming to Town, realize that your version of Christmas may very well not be any more holy or right than that of your neighbor.

2009

The Trujillos have been blessed with yet another wonderful year. God is good. Please know that we thank our God at every remembrance of you. (Phil. 1:3)
2009 has been an eventful and exciting year. From seeing Tim Hawkins live, to marching with crowds of TEA Party protesters, our family has been busy. We enjoyed a visit from my mom’s parents in September. We don’t get to see them nearly as much as we would like to, so this time together was greatly cherished. The Trujillo ladies spent a weekend in Estes Park, touring the Haunted Stanley Hotel. (although the Super 8 we stayed in was just as creepy!) The men had their fun hunting once again this year. They love the time spent together in the creation. Sarah and I spent two weeks counseling at Kamp Koinonia in the summer. My dad and Karl joined us for the second week- dad as a teacher and counselor and Karl as a camper. Three of us met Joe the Plumber at a TEA Party rally this year! Fellowship with our church family, homeschooling, football and basketball games, and discussions solving the world’s problems were also a large part of our year. And we only had to call the police to our house one time in 2009!

Marty (aka Dad) worked hard in our community/church garden all summer. This resulted in a fantastic harvest of sweet corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, and lots of other tasty veggies! He spent a week in Arizona with his mom, sister, and brother-in-law. While we shivered in Colorado, he enjoyed palm trees and 80 degree weather! Of course he kept busy visiting with church members, studying for sermons, keeping bees, messing around in his “blow away shed”, and teaching Karl Greek and American History.

Allie (aka Mom) continues to enjoy her job at the post office and her time teaching Karl. The visit from her parents this summer was especially nice for her. Her Grandma Kay also came to visit! The doll collection continues to grow. We are very thankful for our mom, and her dedication to being a keeper at home. Mom is so thankful that her whole family is still living at home, so that we can enjoy the time spent together.

Sarah turned 20 this year! I, with lots of help from the rest of the family, and friends, was able to pull off a surprise birthday party! And she really was surprised when she walked in to find people from all areas of her life in the same room! On a not-so-positive note, Sarah was in a car accident that totaled her 1996 Pontiac Sunfire. However, she is now the proud owner of a 2004 Hyundai Elantra. Maybe one of the biggest highlights of Sarah’s year was a visit from her sister Amber, her brother-in-law Phil, and their three kids. She was able to spend a lot of time with them over the few days they were in town. Sarah continues to teach Bible class every week and work with the treasury and enjoys her job in the Sather’s Jewelers office.

Miranda, yours truly, had an interesting year with a lot of “new” things. For example, I am now driving my “new” old car (although I prefer “classic”). It’s a 1985 Ford Tempo in excellent condition and I couldn’t be any more happy with it! Also, after searching for a few months, I was blessed with two new jobs in February. The first was a job as a lunch lady sub and the second was as a Party Coordinator at Pump It Up. Both jobs have been wonderful. I was moved up to Shift Manager at Pump It Up over the summer, and have just recently quit the job as a lunch lady. I’ll miss it, but I’m enjoying spending more time at the Inflatable Party Zone, working on marketing in addition to managing. In February I officially became Miranda Trujillo, Master Herbalist! Since then I have been making and selling my own remedies, which can now be found at Copoco’s Honey, a local beekeeper’s shop. “Randi’s Remedies” can also be found at www.copocoshoney.com . Last but not least, I was able to spend some time in Indiana last summer with my grandparents. I love the church family there, and the little town of Wheatfield where I can walk anywhere I need to go. I had a blast doing photo shoots with my cousins (who are some of my best friends) Joanna, Emily, and Abby.

Karl started on CLP Jr. High’s Varsity basketball team at the beginning of the year. More recently he started on Poudre Highschool’s Freshman football team and even more recently made Poudre’s Sophomore basketball team! As I am writing this, they have had one loss and one win. Karl is always encouraged by our friend Chuck, who makes it to every game! We had a scare at the beginning of the football season. While Karl was headed to Denver with his team he went into Anaphylactic Shock due to an unknown pineapple allergy. Needless to say, we are much more careful what we feed him these days (which is quite a task, you would understand if you knew how much he eats.) In addition to this scare, Karl sustained a ripped off fingernail, bit into tongue, and broken pinky throughout his sports seasons this year. Some of the newest news about Karl is that he is now employed at Pump it Up as a Party Attendant, which technically makes me his boss. He continues to enjoy air soft wars with friends, and his trading card business.

We hope 2010 will be a great year for you!

What are you doing?

When you graduate, you get used to questions like, "What are you going to do now?" and "What school are you going to?" That seems fine and good...for about a month. Then it gets old. Many people have a definite answer... most probably the school they'll be attending, their major, etc. I had no such answer. "I'm not going to school." was my answer for a while. My answer to "What are you going to do now?" was something like, "Uh..nothing much different." Either that, or I would pull out one of the things I'm "doing"- an educational endeavor, job, or whatever came to mind at the moment. But that one thing never seemed to sum up my life- what I'm doing.

Here's the problem. I've been graduated for TWO YEARS now and these questions have not stopped. The problem is not that I'm doing nothing. The problem IS what people have come to expect as an answer- where I am going.

What am I doing? A few weeks ago someone asked me again what school I'm going to. When I said that I'm not, he asked what I'm doing. I scramble for answers a lot. How can I relate "what I'm doing" to this particular person? Are they looking for education answers? Job answers? Hobby answers? Interest answers? I stopped scrambling. Instead, I answered "I'm living." To which he replied something along the lines of, "Yeah, I don't do much either."

Well, obviously, my somewhat smart alec answer didn't get me far. I went on to explain that my life includes a lot of things. But how do you describe what you're doing in one sentence? I'm living my life. I'm trying my best to serve God with it. I realize that my beliefs are different, and that's probably why I have a hard time putting into words what my plans are.

A few years ago a series of events, books, prayer, and discussion convicted me of something. I became convicted of the fact that my life is not mine. I realized that there is a great plan for my life. I learned that I needed to let go of plans to prosper myself. I looked to God's Word to find what I, personally, was meant to do. I prayed and talked with my family. First of all, we decided that I wouldn't be GOING anywhere. God placed me in a family, and that is where I intend to stay. See, I think God is all powerful and wise. He knows us- what we desire, what we need. He knows how to prosper us. I find that my role is to be a Godly daughter and, Lord willing, wife someday. But the "wife someday" aside, what is my role? My role is to prepare.

How can I prepare? This was a question that bugged me almost constantly. What can I do with my time- with my life at this moment- to prepare. Well, first of all I needed to realize that even if I never GET MARRIED, there's a plan for me. So maybe the best preparation is to understand that serving my family is a high calling. This was the main reason I decided against GOING. I want to stay.. to be HERE, with my family, to serve them. However, I've found that being with them blesses me more than I can ever bless them with my presence.

When looking through God's Word, we can find how to fulfill our role at any stage in life. Children obey your parents. Wives submit to your husbands. Husbands love your wives. What I found in the books written by the christian community was a great lack of information on one stage in life- that of the adult, unmarried daughter. Actually, instead of a lack of information I found a lack of BIBLICAL information. The role of the unmarried adult daughter is assumed, by the Christian community, to be a time of finding yourself and showing your independence. This doesn't seem much different than the world's plan for this stage in life. This stumped me for a while. But I came to understand that God didn't leave anyone out. He didn't leave us blind in this world, wondering what to do. He didn't give us permission to seek after the world's plan for success for a season, and then somehow hope to return to God's plan for success when we say "I do". Christian young women are already FOUND, with no need to find themselves. And I can't find in God's Word where it says that we are meant to be independent- at any stage in life. So what is the unmarried Christian daughter to do? Why would she do anything different? If God didn't specifically point out "at eighteen year old graduation, do such and such", then maybe she's meant to do what she's been doing all along. That is, obeying her parents, preparing for a future family, serving the Church, etc. The change in her life comes when she submits herself in marriage to a Godly man- transferring her submission from her father to her husband. Never is there a time when the daughter becomes her own Spiritual authority. From what I can find, her role starts with "Honor your father and mother." and then becomes "Submit to your husband." I can't find an in between stage of "Submit to your own authority". Once a young woman has become independent of her family, it has to be just that much harder to return to the role of submission once she's married.

Preparation. Many see college as preparation for their future. And who am I to say that it's not? My personal convictions are just that- personal. So anyone reading this should realize that this is MY response to the questions I get. This is not a sermon of conviction to others.

For me, college would be the opposite of preparing. What do I seek to achieve? I seek to be a Godly daughter (first to my heavenly Father, and then to my earthly parents- who were given to me to send me toward my heavenly Father). I seek to be a Godly sister. I seek to be a Godly friend, coworker- you name it. What is my long term goal? To be a Godly wife and mother. Let me make it clear- personally, I see NO BETTER WAY to prepare to be a Godly wife and mother than to use my time becoming a Godly daughter and sister.

Career. What a word! People ask me often, "Well what do you want to DO?". They're referring to what career I want. Short, sweet and to the point- I don't want a career. That isn't my goal.

College. It prepares you for a career. As I have said before, I want to be a Godly wife and mother someday. My first priority is making sure that I can someday put my kids first- raising, training and educating them with the bulk of my time. So college, first of all, would train me for an occupation that I would neglect once children came into the picture- maybe even before children if the occupation kept me from focusing on my home.

College also takes lots of money. Money that I don't have. So not only would it train me for a career that I wouldn't use for long- it would put me into debt for this training. Debt that might cause me to continue working at the career I don't want in order to pay off the training I needed for the career I don't want...

Instead I've decided to work and save my money. I have several jobs that don't require a college degree. I have been so immeasurably blessed with jobs that I love- jobs that help me further my goal. I hope that the money I save will be put to good use in the first few years of my marriage, or even set aside for a down payment on a house. To put it simply, I don't know how the money will be used. But I know it will go further if I save it now instead of spending it on career training when my life goal doesn't include that career.

A keeper at home...a helpmeet. I can cook and clean and educate kids. I can sew (sort of) and my ironing skills are pretty good. But being a keeper at home is more than just keeping the house itself. A young woman can have these skills but not understand the lifestyle of a keeper at home. With all the pressure to "succeed", and my own selfishness, I sometimes find myself waivering. I find myself seeking after experiences, education, relationships, etc. that do not further my lifestyle of a helpmeet and keeper at home. But why seek after something- pouring time, money, effort and emotions into it if it does not further my goal. Why put so much into something when I don't believe that it is part of God's plan for my life?

So what am I doing? I'm seeking after education, experiences, ministry opportunities, relationships, jobs, hobbies and interests that help me achieve my goal of becoming a helpmeet and servant. A helpmeet first to my dad, mom, sister and brother with the hope of someday being the wife and helpmeet of a Godly man. A servant to the church and to everyone around me. That is what I'm doing. :)

Retreat at Mountain Park