Today, December 5th, the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas Day (Santa Claus Day). I am half Swedish and was raised with Swedish traditions but my next door neighbors here in Africa are Dutch. This is their first Christmas season in Africa. I dressed with a "Mrs. Sinterklaas" hat and delivered a little Christmas Bear gift to their 16 month old daughter, Rebecca. It was fun to see Rebecca's reaction to me. She just stared and stared.
For a history of Sinterklaas Day, look at the following Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas
Christmas is NOT about Santa Claus. It's about CHRIST.
"The historic record of the birth of Christ can be found in Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2:1-20. Unlike any other baby, the one born that night in Bethlehem was unique in all of history. He was not created by a human father and mother. He had a heavenly pre-existence (John 1:1-3, 14). He is God, the Son—Creator of the universe (Philippians 2:5-11). This is why Christmas is called the incarnation, a word which means “in the flesh.” In the birth of Jesus, the eternal, all-powerful and all-knowing Creator came to earth in the flesh."
The above description of the birth of Christ can be found in the link:
http://www.christiananswers.net/christmas/home.html
