This podcast episode delves into the pivotal theme of faith formation in children, particularly as it pertains to the celebration of Christmas and the figure of Santa Claus. We explore the historical significance of St. Nicholas, a devout Christian whose legacy is often overshadowed by modern interpretations of Santa. The discussion emphasizes the importance of discernment in parenting, urging listeners to consider how they convey truth and faith to their children amidst the enchanting traditions of the holiday season. We reflect on the potential confusion that may arise when children navigate belief in both a mythical Santa and the reality of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, we invite parents to anchor their celebrations in biblical truth, fostering a genuine understanding of generosity and faith that aligns with the teachings of Christianity.

Takeaways:

1. The podcast discusses the importance of faith formation in a child's life, emphasizing the necessity of discernment as parents.
2. Listeners are encouraged to engage with their Christian community and cherish their relationships with family and friends during the Christmas season.
3. Saint Nicholas, a historical figure, is presented as a model of generosity and Christian values, distinct from the mythical portrayal of Santa Claus.
4. The episode addresses the potential confusion children may experience when distinguishing between the reality of Christ and the myths surrounding Santa Claus.
5. Parents are called to align their teachings with biblical truth, ensuring that their children understand the importance of honesty and integrity in faith.
6. The podcast encourages families to find ways to celebrate Christ's birth authentically, without compromising on the truth of the Gospel.

Foreign.

And welcome back to Casting Seeds.

I'm Savannah, your holistic health practitioner and host and you're listening to the only holistic health podcast that uses God's singular truth to give you individualized discernment.

And Merry Christmas.

I'm so excited that this is the Christmas Eve episode.

I pray that you guys are all going to your Christmas Eve services for church and if you're not able to due to family plans or traveling or whatever, that you're still able to reach out to your home Christian community and tell them all how much you love them and how thankful you are that the Lord has been born and that you're going to be celebrating eternity with them someday, which is such a huge blessing.

And why am I saying celebrate with your church and reach out to people at your church body?

It's because they should be doing life with you more than anyone else in your life.

They should be the ones lifting you up, supporting you and vice versa.

They should be the ones pouring into you, discipling you, being discipled by you.

I mean yes, you can do service and things like that, but you should be doing life with these people more than anyone else.

So I pray that that is a huge blessing in your guys lives also.

So going back to last our I guess it's only two weeks ago.

It's so weird doing episodes now every two weeks.

I'm not used to it and it feels really weird.

But.

But you know, we're going with it.

Maybe we'll be able to get back to weekly episodes soon once things calm down with Penelope.

You guys were saying and messaging me on Instagram that you were so sad that with all the imagery we were talking about with Christmas that I did not talk about Santa and that was purposeful.

We talked about all the other symbols and history of Christmas and not Santa because Santa gets his own episode.

St. Nicholas is a really beautiful, not just symbol, but an important part of Christianity and how again things can evolve over time but still be a biblical aspect versus a non biblical aspect.

And this episode is not to cut into people who do celebrate St. Nick.

You know, Santa as in wholeheartedly believing in him or letting kids believe in him, that he's real and he brings presence and he's a magical figure.

And Jesus, this isn't about pooping on them in this episode, but this an episode to shine light as to why we, Jeremiah and I have decided not to do that in our household biblically and what we will be doing for Penelope and just kind of the discernment that Many of our friends have gotten as well.

So I do want to say that with this episode, I feel like it's so funny because I actually did a post on Instagram about St. Nicholas and how to involve him into your life, which we'll get to that part.

We're first going to start off, off with who St. Nicholas is, like the real story of him and also like, what the real concern is here.

Like, core concern is that faith formation matters in a child's life.

And I, I just hope and pray that whoever does listen to this episode really sits down with discernment of what does this look like in our family, why is this important and why it should be a big deal to be considered.

I think parents, I've seen a lot of things online where people are getting kind of ang degree and turn up nose like, oh, if a Christian doesn't like, if the Christian doesn't like Santa, then, you know, they're just trying to take it away from their children's faith.

And like, people were really butt hurt about it when I posted this.

I got a lot of dms like, oh, so now we can't do Santa either?

No, you guys can do whatever you want.

It's your children.

If you live in America, you have a lot of freedom and a lot of free will to, to do as you please.

Uh, but the thing is, as Christians, we don't have the same free will as non Christians have.

So we have to filter everything that we do, especially as parents, through the discernment of the Holy Spirit and asking God, what would you want me to do as an individual parent?

Not what is my sister doing?

What is my brother doing?

What is my neighbor down the street doing?

It doesn't matter.

What is God calling you to do as a parent?

To raise your.

Raise your child individually and holistically.

Right?

So that's what today's episode is about.

Whether or not we as parents.

Is it casting seeds or pearls to be able to celebrate Santa wholeheartedly with all the faith, same equal faith as Jesus?

Because that's what you're gonna be doing when you tell your kids that Santa's real.

Okay, so History of St Nicholas, which, by the way, did you guys know he was a Christian?

That's a fun fact.

He is real.

He's not a myth.

St. Nicholas was a real historical person.

He was born around 270 AD so pretty early to Jesus.

I, I thought he was like way later.

I thought it was like in the medieval times, but 270ad, which is like.

And Put.

I think it's Patara.

Yes, Patara.

I'm looking at my notes and he was born, which is kind of modern day Turkey.

He later became a bishop of Mara.

That's a fun fact.

And I don't know what of Mara is, but that's what he was a bishop of.

He was a devout Christian and during the time of Christianity being persecuted of all things.

So it was like in depth hardcore persecution.

In church history.

It records that he suffered for his faith immensely.

He was known for defending orthodox Christian beliefs, including the deity of who Christ was.

So this tradition holds that he attended the Council of Nicaea at that time where church affirmed that Jesus is fully God.

So that's another fun fact, that he was at the Council of Nicaea, which I also did not know.

And his generosity, which plays into, you know, the false figure of who St Nicholas is, but the generosity of his anonymous giving, especially to the poor and widows and children, which is what we're called to do as Christians, became, you know, over time, Saint Nick.

So his most famous generosity, though like a poor father couldn't afford dowries for his daughters, he provided those dowries.

St. Nicholas also secretly gave money, traditionally at night to protect their dignity.

And then he also was giving hidden and intentional Christian motivated gifts at night again, and would leave it on people's doorsteps, which is why in South America, I think, I don't know if they do this in other parts of the world.

I've heard that they've done it in Hungary and Eastern Europe.

But I know in South America that's why they leave their boots out at the door and shoes and then kids will get candies and things in their boots.

So this is where the ideas of like secret giving, night deliveries, gifts for children, they all kind of originated from.

So that's actually not fantasy, but it came from Christian charity and godlike loving, which is so sweet.

Uh, he was not magical.

Okay.

He did not see all and judge all of children's behavior.

He did not replace Christ in any way, shape or form.

And he never pointed himself or his generosity in any way, shape or form, let alone to be equal or above Jesus.

So just to kind of St. Nicholas or Sinthra Klaus is a Dutch tradition that started, so it became kind of cultural folklore mixed with pagan winter imagery.

So again, pagans took a biblical.

I.

You can't even say biblical, but technically, if you think about if the Bible continued, I feel like St. Nicholas's story could have been in it.

But a biblically loving figure and historian, historical Truth person and mixed it with pagan winter imagery.

And the modern Santa kind of bears a little resemblance to the historical Christian bishop, too.

So why does this matter?

Ultimately, St. Nicholas didn't inspire imagination through illusion.

He aspired.

Oh, I'm sorry.

He inspired faith through action.

So that's one of the biggest things that I wanted to talk about today, is St. Nicholas was known for generosity through Christ.

Everything that he did was generous through Christ.

And truth matters.

In that information, we want to wonder, I guess we want to wonder whether or not we're okay with deception at all, being introduced to our children, especially through us as parents.

Right.

So.

And that kind of supports scripture, especially when we think of Matthew 6.

Three, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

And then James 1:27, religion that is pure and undefiled is to care for orphans and widows.

Right?

So what St. Nicholas did dur.

And it wasn't just during Christmas.

This was like, the whole.

His whole life, he cared for orphans, wood, and widows.

And I also read somewhere that he, like, cared for, like, creatures around him, too.

He just had, like, a really generous spirit.

Right?

So this is a real historical, wonderful figure who was generous and kind and loving.

And when I also think of the podcast episode that Jeremiah and I did last year, where we talked about being good stewards of the Word and being able to represent Christ during the holidays to our especially unsaved family, and whether it's setting healthy boundaries and how to do that, we.

It's a whole.

It's a great episode.

And it was hard for Jeremiah and I because we've really struggled with this around the holidays.

At the end of the day, when we're talking about Santa and letting our children believe in Santa wholeheartedly with all that faith that a magical, mystical man is coming into her home at night, um, eating milk and cookies, bringing them gifts if they're a good boy or a good girl or coal if they're a bad boy and a bad girl, and that he's all knowing and omnipresent and can see what they're doing, it can be confusing of Course to a child, but also to the adults around.

Like, if you're saying, hey, Mormonism is not biblical, and worshiping saints and, you know, having to repent to a pope, like, these things are not biblical, and they're not in the word.

And then at the same time, you're like, but I'm gonna let my child, you know, kind of worship a false deity.

I think that can be confusing to adults around you who are like, okay, so you just pick and choose the idols that you allow in your child's life and in your home.

If they, like, are happy and have, like, a cute nose and eat cookies.

I.

So right then and there, I feel like when things are hypocritical like that, it can be really hard for the people who are unsaved around you to respect you the same way.

So that's just something to consider.

Again, this is not to pressure any family to not do this anymore.

I just think that if you're girded up with God's word and wisdom, it's kind of hard to allow and want Santa to be the same figure or equal to Jesus in your home.

And even if you say, like, oh, like, we love Jesus more.

Jesus doesn't come down and directly give presents, like, that's hard for a kid to comprehend, you know, I don't know.

And also, too, I just want to say Jeremiah and I both grew up not saved.

I grew up in a home where I wholeheartedly believed in Santa.

You guys, I believed in the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, all these things.

And the reason why I believed so hard and for so long, like, I literally believed until I was, like, 11 years old.

That's.

But I also had a little sister, so my parents, they, like, they went all out.

We had boot prints in the house.

We heard sleigh bells at night.

We like anything you could think of that you like.

Parents trick and have fun tricking their kid, you know, and I don't think they're.

My parents thought, like, we're tricking Savannah and Sierra into believing in Santa.

But I think a lot about Santa Claus is also so fun for the parent, right?

Because you get to sit there and be like, look at.

Look at all the faith in their face.

Like, look at how excited they are.

Look.

They really believe Santa was here.

I would have so much more joy in my heart if I saw my children, my little baby children, having that same faith and excitement around the Christmas tree and talking about Jesus a thousand times more, not knowing, like, oh, this may be the last Christmas they believe in this.

And it's just like heartbreaking.

I don't know.

But I found out because a family friend came up to me who assumed that I didn't believe at that time because I was 11, you know, and I heard people say they didn't believe, but I was like, nah, Santa, he.

I've seen things, I've heard him on my roof because they did things like that.

Okay?

So.

But a family friend came up and it was in front of my parents and she was like, you know, Savannah, just because you don't believe in Santa anymore doesn't mean.

And I was asking a question about Santa, but she said, it doesn't mean that we're not going to keep, you know, the magic and spirit alive for Sierra.

Okay?

We want it to be real for her, even though, you know, he's fake.

And my parents were behind her, nodding.

So in that moment I was like, wait, whoa.

And then my whole world came crashing down.

Like I realized, okay, well, if Santa's not real, then what about all these other mythical creatures?

And then I compared notes to my parents handwriting and then I realized, oh, my dad's the Easter bunny, My mom is Santa, my mom is the tooth fairy, my dad is there another one?

I don't even know.

But.

So there was a lot of I don't know.

After that I was like, man, what else did my parents like to lie to me about?

And that was really the first time I genuinely considered that.

Genuinely and seriously, for the first time I can.

That I can think back to, I just thought, wow, my parents are totally okay with lying to me.

Like, deep lying, Deep, deep lying.

So that was really hard for me and I just wanted to make that clear.

Jeremiah said that he didn't really have a childhood where he grew up, where like St. Nicholas, like Santa was like a huge deal in his house, but when he was treated and belittled, like, no, you should believe in it, that really did not make him feel loved or cared for or taken care of in any way.

So let's go over the main topics.

But I just wanted to share that personal story.

Um, so again, like I said earlier, the core concern is the faith formation that matters most of all.

Right?

Children don't compartmentalize belief like we as adults can do.

And when we ask them to hold dual faith in Santa and in Jesus, one being kind of like imaginary and one real, we're risking confusion and their understanding of truth, trust, and ultimately true authority.

And that is a red flag for me.

That's for me.

And just to bring up scripture, John 9:25, one thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see, right?

Faith is rooted in truth, not illusion.

Okay?

Also Proverbs 22:6 train up a child in the way he should go, right?

So it is our job as, as adults to be able to love and put true, undeniable truth into our children's hearts and raise them up to love Christ wholeheartedly.

And the only way we can do that is by not causing confusion.

And God is not.

He makes it clear God is not a God of confusion.

Satan is.

And someone, someone said the other day, they're like, if you let your children believe in Santa, you might as well let them believe in Satan.

There's even a movie about it.

Kids like mixing up with Jack Black.

Like he writes dear Satan.

And so dear Santa.

And I was like, okay, that's a little wild.

But if you, if you think about the confusion it causes, it is really risky as a parent.

So I, I don't know.

I just think on that point alone it's really hard to want your child to wholeheartedly believe in Santa.

So if Santa isn't real, then what happens to Jesus?

Right?

That's also a point if you're a kid.

Like I couldn't even imagine at that time if my parents were also raising me as a Christian.

If they were like, you have to have this whole faith In G, I would.

100 question, was Jesus a made up story too?

100 think about it.

If Santa who brings you gifts and was like more physically present than ever is fake, then what about a God that you have to learn to have an in depth internal relationship with?

Right?

I don't know.

Again, just things to think about when children eventually discover Santa's like, I don't know, pretend it can quietly plant seeds of doubt.

Right?

Was Jesus just another story that adults told me?

Why would I believe in Christ?

Look, all these stories in the Bible, like some of them are pretty crazy.

Think about Noah's in the ark.

Why would I believe that?

I don't know.

I think it can implant fear and, and also implant a falsehood of integrity as well.

Right?

So we want to speak truth to one another.

One another.

That's Zachariah 8.

19.

But also we want to let our yeses be yeses and our nos be nos.

That's one of my favorite verses ever in Matthew 5.

37.

Because I have met so many flip floppity Christians.

And if we don't let our yeses be yeses and our Nos be no's, our boundaries.

They don't understand the importance of Scripture.

They don't understand trusting in their parent at all when they say like, hey, there's going to be a consequence if this is taken away.

And I feel like gentle parenting can work in some aspects if you also apply Matthew 5:37 to it.

I still don't think you should ever spare the rod.

You should use the rod and times.

But I don't know.

I think that's the biggest problem with gentle parenting that I see is most parents do not let their yeses be yeses and their nos be nos.

They just say a thousand times, we don't do that, we don't do that.

And then the child still does it with no consequence.

So again, I think that this all kind of wraps up into the same under the same present under the tree.

So then who actually brings the gifts?

Right.

I think that's an important thing.

I don't think that Jesus.

I know a lot of people are like, we have Jesus bring a gift for.

That's also confusing because Jesus doesn't do that we would want to do.

If we're going to live a scripturally led life, we're going to also do everything that's biblically true.

So Jesus can't bring presents and put him under the tree.

He is an omnipresent God who can see your heart.

Not even just everything that you do, but he can see your heart and your intentions, which is if not even more important than just what you physically do.

Right.

Because a three year old who punches the wall and isn't doesn't know how to have self control yet.

If we can change their heart posture towards something, then that's where we stop.

Then a teenager from punching a hole in the wall later in life.

Right.

So every good and perfect gift is from above.

Right.

That's something I think that is good for kids to understand that we're not.

That's James 1:17, by the way.

We're not as parents robbing the children of joy from being honest.

If every good and perfect gift is truly from above, we are so thankful and honored that mom and dad, that Jesus brought the finances to be able to give mom and dad the money to be able to give these gifts to give to me.

Right.

And mom and dad are being generous with that money.

They're expressing stewardship and.

And then I learn how to express gratitude to mom and dad and say thank you.

Like there' whole concept of that.

And then kids can go out and buy presents with money that they've earned.

Right.

So in the spirit of who Christ is, which is what St. Nicholas did, we can talk about those things and celebrate those things.

And then you're not losing that joy and excitement because kids are still thankful for Christ, for the gifts that they are given under the tree.

I feel like that's something that we can easily instill in children.

And I actually have a friend who, with every gift that they give under the tree, instead of doing like a card like from mom and dad, they put like, you know who it is from, like mom and dad.

And then they have a verse that goes with their gift.

So there's a lot of intentionality and the child has to read out the verse, the Bible verse.

And then it's fun because they try to guess what their gift is around the Bible verse.

So again with like what I was saying earlier, you can involve St Nicholas into the story because he is a real man.

He was a bishop.

He was a radical follower of Jesus.

He was willing to risk his life in every single aspect of who he was.

Sorry, my dogs are outside.

I don't know if you heard them bark.

To be able to protect and serve the like Christ as king and hold scripture true because it was vulnerable at that time to be taken over.

So his generosity felt followed him from faith in Christ.

And that's not a myth and that's something that we can celebrate.

So again, Matthew 6:1:4, verses 1 through 4.

This is just a snippet of it, but we have to be aware of practicing your righteousness before others.

And I feel like a lot of people with the whole gift giving thing, it's all about their own righteousness and feeling good about giving someone else a gift.

Which, don't get me wrong, it feels good to give a gift.

But if we're giving out a gift to lift ourselves up and be haughty in any way, shape or form, or like, I got this for you.

No, obviously, then that's not going to be representing Christ in any way.

And then Matthew 5:16, Let your light shine before others.

Right?

If you're letting your light shine, that means you're letting the light of the Holy Spirit shine through the things that you do.

And you can't do that if St. Nicholas is in the way of Christ.

If St. Nicholas is giving the gift some like magical, mythical figure, how can your kids be thankful and loving and grateful to you as a Parent, if it's not you giving the gift wholeheartedly, right?

If your kids see you working hard all year and then you end up getting them that special gift that they've been saving up or wanting for, that's a special moment that they can be thankful for and grateful for for you as a parent.

And I think another thing that people bring up is like, well, what about protecting their imagination?

You can do that without lying, right?

Imagination doesn't require deception, ever.

Children can enjoy wonder, they can enjoy play, they can enjoy stories, they can enjoy tradition without being taught something is real when it really isn't.

We can do that.

We can have fun.

I can tell, like Penelope, that there are kids around the world who believe that Santa is real and it's like a fun tradition for them.

Because sadly, those kids don't have Jesus.

They don't understand true faith.

They don't understand true love in that way.

And that's sad.

And we can pray for them, but we can also celebrate the real, amazing St. Nicholas and what he truly celebrated, which was Christ.

I'm sure St Nicholas would probably be mortified that people even celebrate him in any way, shape or form.

Just the same way that, like when Catholics, like, venerate Mary or use saints to pray, like all of those people, if they truly are a saint in Christ where they love God.

If someone in the future, if I found out at some way people are like Saint Savannah and trying to pray through me or celebrate me in any way, I would be pissed.

I would be so angry because I want Christ to be celebrated and Christ alone.

No one else.

Nothing else.

That's the point of this podcast, right?

Who are you doing this for?

Who are you doing it for?

Who are you doing Christmas for?

Are you doing it for your kids?

Are you doing it for Christ?

Are you doing it for your children's imagination?

Are you doing it for Christ?

Are you doing it for your own glory and your own satisfaction?

Do you want your kids to have the childhood you grew up with?

Was it really great without God?

No, mine wasn't.

Not at all.

Sorry.

I also have a cough, so if I start hacking in a moment, that's why.

So these are.

Again, my last thought is, we want to be doing this, walking it in love, especially towards other families.

All the things that I'm saying, it may sound kind of harsh to people who've never even considered it before, but it's not.

This isn't about judging you as a parent.

It's not about saying you're a bad parent.

And Families must follow the same conviction that Jeremiah and I have.

Not about that at all.

Christians are called to humility, they're called to respect, they're called to peace, they're called to self control, they're called to all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, even when the practices differ.

Right?

So I may have a really strong conviction about this and a lot of my friends, but if you don't, okay, I mean, if as long as you prayed about it and you don't have it, then that's different.

But I do, I think it would be hard for people to hear this podcast and not feel some sort of conviction, especially when backing it up with scripture.

And that's the thing.

If you, a lot of people do this, be like, well, I prayed about it and I feel good about it.

Okay, that's awesome that you talked at God about it.

But did you receive the Word back?

Did you also go to the Word?

Did you ask pastors about it?

Did you do research?

Because when you care about something, Sarah, I'm going to use a random girl's name.

Sarah, when you care about something, when you really want, like that perfect shade of lipstick or you want to find the best leggings, do you not compare different ones on Amazon or different stores?

And then you're like, oh, I found the best one.

This is what I'm sticking with.

Do you put more quality time and more effort into those things than you do your actual scriptural life?

Just a question.

You know, each one should be fully convicted in his own mind.

That's Romans 14:5.

So that's also like when people are baby Christians, they're not going to have the same conviction or understanding that a well seasoned Christian will, and vice versa.

Right?

So we can't be intense.

Oh, there's a mosquito in my house.

How are mosquitoes alive in December?

I swear, you guys, they are making genetically modified mosquitoes.

There's no way.

I don't understand.

And also, they don't buzz anymore unless I'm deaf, but I don't hear them.

I swear.

I swear.

The genetically modifying mosquitoes.

And then let's get on that whole choo choo train of psychotic.

I literally think that they could be.

This is actually something you can look up.

I'm not joking.

And like, I saw the accounts for it anyway.

This is a whole.

This is a tangent.

But they tried to bioengineer mosquitoes to be able to put diseases and vaccines into people.

Anyway, my other script.

I'm not joking.

I love that I'm saying that.

And I'm making myself laugh so hard I'm coughing.

Okay, I can't.

I need to go kill that mosquito.

Oh, it depends on you.

Live peacefully with it.

All right?

So you want to live a peaceful life with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

That's really important.

And getting into, like, oh, you let your family do Santa.

You know, like, if they're ever interested in it and you don't want to explain it, let me be the bad guy.

Send this podcast and be like, this is why I don't listen to Santa.

And if you're that person listening to this, just know I'm not trying to be the bad guy.

But it tends to be people shoot the messenger.

And it sucks because I'll even put things online where I talk about kids, foot alignment and then all the.

I had someone, I talked about my child's foot alignment.

Penelope's in like a onesie.

And this one lady was like, oh, yeah, and if you breathe air, you could die too.

And I was like, well, yeah, if there are horrible chemicals or gases in the air, yes.

What is your point?

You know, so just know that if someone's sending this to you and you're interested and you've gotten this far, good for you.

I love it.

And I hope you like listening to other episodes as well.

But just know the point of this podcast is to challenge your heart and to make you think and ultimately to speak to God about it and get individualized discernment.

That's a.

That's the opening of that.

What I say every episode.

Remember?

Individualized discernment.

Woohoo.

So, okay, my closing thoughts on this.

The goal isn't to cancel Christmas in any way, shape or form, or cancel St. Nicholas.

We love Santa.

Right?

You could see why you guys just needed an entire his own episode.

I want you to deeply consider how you anchor the wonder of Christ into your children's lives every day.

Not even just at Christmas time, but every day and in your own heart.

Right?

But specifically, if we're going to talk about Christmas, how you anchor him in generosity, in truth, in faith, in joy, in life and in love.

Right?

And how this won't collapse when myths fall away because God wants to be your cornerstone.

He wants to be your children's cornerstone.

Santa is not a cornerstone.

St. Nicholas is not a cornerstone.

Savannah casting seeds.

The world none of this is a cornerstone.

It's all going to fade away.

Jesus will not.

Right.

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

First Corinthians 3:11.

By the way, I don't have all these things memorized, you guys.

I have it written out, so please don't feel like, oh, my gosh, Savannah knows all these Bible verses.

I wish and I'm trying to memorize.

I know a lot of addresses, but I don't always know scripture by heart.

And if you could pray for me, that would be wonderful.

So, yeah, just to get over that whole hump, I hope you guys listen to this and you understand why Jeremiah and I have decided to not celebrate Santa in that way.

And again, I have, like a little slide thing on Instagram that it's easy to share.

It kind of.

It does sum up this episode.

It doesn't have all of the topics in it, but it's kind of a really gentle way to explain, like, Santa is a part of the fun and pretend.

It also brings clarity on who brings gifts and why.

I talk about kind of like the, the flair of, like the seasonal story of St. Nicholas, how to protect their imagination.

Again, all very gentle ways because in social media, everything has to be gentle.

How to respect other families and also keep Jesus at the center.

And also kind of just like, why it matters, right?

Because we don't want to rob the childhood wonder of Christmas, but we want to give them honesty, we want to give them clarity, and we want to also have our own traditions that protect trust while also celebrating Christ in a joyful, imaginative, and fun season.

Right?

There's a lot of wonder and glory and beauty around this time of year.

And the symbolism of it, even in the last episode, there's a purpose for it all.

So just the same way that God has a plan and purpose for you, you can have a plan and a purpose for your children, because we're all his children.

Yay.

Okay, this is getting too long.

Jeremiah and the baby and the dogs are outside in the cold.

He wanted to take them on a rainy walk, unbeknownst to me, just so that we could have a more quiet episode.

And I. I didn't do too bad.

It's just 33 minutes.

I was like, you'll go on a 30 minute walk, right?

He's back 15 minutes later.

He's like, yes.

He looked.

He looked at me, you guys, through the window.

He tapped the watch, like his wrist, like looking at him.

And I, I did the one and the five.

I'm like, it's been only 15 minutes, my guy.

Anyway, I love you guys.

I pray that you have a magical and amazing Christmas.

With all that being said, cast seeds, not pearls.

And I pray that this episode was casting seeds into your heart for the holiday season.

And until then, Merry Christmas.

And since I won't see you guys until next year, Happy New Year.

We hope you enjoyed learning how to cultivate God's creation from a Biblical perspective.

Holyistic health is to prioritize whole person wellness through Christ like and comment on what topics we're casting seeds or casting pearls.

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We would like to remind you before we leave that perfect health cannot be attained in this world.

Only spiritual salvation through sanctification and repentance to God and turning away from sin will give you a perfect body in the kingdom come.

Nourish yourself in the Word, in prayer and in Biblical fellowship daily.

Thank you for joining us today and a special thank you to our listeners for making this podcast possible.

Always praying.

Keep casting seeds.