Day 10 of Advent… Dreams and Reality

I am sort of “re-posting” a story I wrote in 2011. I have updated and shortened it. I hope you will be touched by its message.
And so it goes…
I believe one of the reasons my children were given to me is so they could teach me valuable lessons. You would think it is the other way around, but not so. If you have children you know what I’m talking about. One Christmas when Teddy, our oldest son, was about 6 years old, one of those moments came when that little voice inside me said “pay attention to this”.
I had held him out of school for the morning, while we went for his dental check-up. I have always enjoyed my one-on-one time with the kids and this morning was no exception. Teddy and I were happily chattering as I drove him back to school. Upon parking the car Teddy reached into my purse to get something out of it. I don’t remember what he was looking for, but what he found gave me a new perspective on dreams and reality.
As was tradition, a couple weeks before Christmas the kids would sit at the kitchen table looking through the Christmas catalogs searching for pictures of the toys they longed for Santa to bring. As they found each toy, they would cut the picture out and put it in an envelope with their name marked on the outside. We’d then make the trek downtown to see Santa and give him each child’s envelope of Christmas wishes. Unknown to the kids, after we walked away from Santa, my husband would distract them while I went back for the envelopes.
That morning after the dentist appointment, Teddy’s little hand went into my purse and emerged with the Santa envelopes. I had forgotten to take them out after our Santa visit the previous weekend. I immediately started to panic. How was I going to get out of this one…??

As Teddy pulled the envelopes out his face was shocked.
He asked in a very concerned tone,
“Mommy, why do you have our Santa envelopes in your purse?”
There was silence while I fished for something to say. I wanted to make up a story because I knew if I told the truth that would be the end of my little boys Santa dreams. I wasn’t ready for the magic to disappear.
So, I decided to do a work-around,
“Oh, I got them from Santa after you kids walked away so Dad and I would know what we should get you kids too. You know we always get you kids a gift or two as well.”
Teddy was not letting me off the hook so easily.
“But Mommy, if you have the envelopes, how will Santa know what to get us?”
I looked into Teddy’s innocent face and at that moment I knew I had to be truthful.
I tenderly said,
“Well Teddy, Mommy and Daddy are really Santa.”
I then waited with a sinking feeling in my stomach for his response.
The wheels were spinning in Teddy’s head and after a couple seconds he said
“Well what about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy?”
(Darn it, he had put those together with Santa, just as I suspected.)
My heart sunk as I said,
“Yes Teddy, Mommy and Daddy are the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy too.”

At that, Teddy started to cry and I knew my worst fears had become a reality. My mind raced with fears that his dreams had been dashed. I feared that the magic of Christmas, and Easter, and all other whimsical imagery for holidays we had pretended were real, was gone from Teddy forever. More importantly, what would he think of God? We had told him God was real too, and he couldn’t see Him. How could I explain that Santa wasn’t real but God was?

There in my car in the school parking lot, Teddy cried for a couple minutes.
I attempted to console him,
“Don’t cry Sweetheart. I am sorry, I know you’re disappointed.”

Then Teddy said something I will never forget.
He looked at me with his eyes full of tears and said,
“Mommy, I’m not disappointed, I just can’t believe that you and Dad would do all of that for us kids.”
I had completely misread the situation; Teddy was thankful, not sad. His heart was not broken, he was crying out of love for his parents and their graciousness. His world did not turn upside down because of this new revelation, it was confirmed. Teddy was thankful and in awe.
Within a few minutes Teddy wiped his eyes, kissed me and hopped out of the car. The truth seemed to be refreshing to him. His steps were light as he skipped away. And he never once asked if God was real. That hadn’t even been a thought.
I have contemplated this exchange over the years and my conclusion is this; that dreams don’t have to go away because of some new revelation or circumstance, they just change in perspective. And it also confirmed to me that belief in God is lasting and true. Somehow God reveals Himself to people’s hearts as being real and eternal, long after our dreams of what “was” have disappeared. He is constant and faithful to work in our lives showing not what we may have lost, but what we have the opportunity to gain…
‘Do you hear what I hear… A child, a child, sleeping in the night. He will bring us goodness and light.’