It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and smell a lot like banana bread

Lauren made banana bread tonight for family and friends. The house smells awesome and Christmasy.

We were just talking about the whole Santa thing. Colin is aware of Santa but we've not really made a big deal about Santa. Instead, we've focused on Jesus and celebrating Christmas as His birthday. This really seems to excite Colin, especially when we told him that we'd have a cake and candles and we would even sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus on Christmas morning.

This will be a new tradition for our family. I kinda hope it's one we keep going.

Santa has his charms, but we really want Christmas to be all about Jesus.

Lauren asked me, "What about family members or friends asking Colin if Santa came to see him?" I suggested that we employ a subtle redirect by saying (with lots of genuine enthusiasm), "We celebrated Jesus' birthday with a cake and candles!" Hopefully, that will help us navigate around St. Nick.

Personally, I'm really excited about this Christmas. Several months ago, I did a study on Blue Letter Bible about Christology, the study of Christ. I keep thinking back to what I learned and I'm just really excited about this Christmas season and focusing on the wonder of Jesus' birth and all of the awesome facts that study revealed concerning His birth in Bethlehem.

Hmm, I think it's time to enjoy some of those Oreo balls my wife made the other night...