A Christmas Prayer

Dear God,

Christmas is coming and I sure hope you’re listening because I need to ask you something very important. My mom took my sister and me to see Santa today. I’m not sure if he was the real Santa or just a Santa’s helper but he was very nice. My little sister sat on his lap first and asked him to bring our Daddy back home for Christmas. Santa told her that bringing our Daddy back home wasn’t something he could promise to do.

Then Santa looked at my mom and so did I. She was crying. Then my little sister asked Santa for a special doll that she wanted and got off his lap and went back to my mom and held her hand. She looked very sad.

Next it was my turn. I looked around to see if any kids my age were there and it looked like there were some kids even older so I walked over to Santa. I wasn’t sure what I should do or say because what I really wanted was something he already told my sister he couldn’t give us.

Santa said, “Ho, ho, ho…Merry Christmas!” I said, “Thank you Santa.” Then he asked, “What would you like for Christmas this year?” I looked at my mom’s and my sister’s sad faces and knew that I should just ask for a toy, so that’s what I did.

When my turn was over and I went over to my mom and sister, my mom bent down and said, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I asked my mom what she was sorry for and she told me that she was sorry that my daddy wasn’t going to be with us at Christmas and that she was sorry about the divorce.

So God, since you can do things that Santa can’t do, I need to ask you to help us this Christmas.

Will you please let our Daddy know that we miss him? Will you let him know that we forgive him for leaving and that if he comes back, Jenny and I will try harder to be good and we won’t bother him when he is watching TV? Will you tell him that Mom cries a lot and that she is always sad? Will you tell him that she said she is sorry for the mistakes she made too? Will you tell him that we promise to be better and not cry if he comes home?

God, thank you for listening and thank you for caring. Jesus didn’t have parents who were divorced so maybe you don’t exactly understand this part.

Wait, I almost forgot that you are God and you understand everything. You even understand what Santa doesn’t understand about the really important Christmas gifts. After all, who wants a toy when you could get your daddy back for Christmas?

Thank you God and Jesus. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. Amen.

You friend,

Jason.

Photo by Jesuschick