The Top Secret Truth About Santa Claus

In this heartfelt conversation, Ruth Hovsepian and C.C. Bloom explore the intersection of faith and Christmas traditions, particularly focusing on the story of Santa Claus. C.C. shares her inspiration for her book, 'The Top Secret Truth About Santa Claus,' which aims to help families navigate the complexities of Santa Claus while keeping the focus on the true meaning of Christmas. They discuss the importance of teaching children about generosity, the significance of family traditions, and the value of having open conversations with kids about faith and culture.

Takeaways:
✔C.C.'sbook offers a unique perspective on Santa Claus.
✔The real story of Santa Claus is rooted in generosity and faith.
✔Balancing holiday traditions with the true meaning of Christmas is essential.
✔Teaching children about giving is a vital part of the holiday season.
✔Family traditions create lasting memories and connections.
✔Open conversations with kids about faith help build trust.
✔Children are impressionable and need guidance in their beliefs.
✔Celebrating Christmas should focus on love and generosity.
✔Parents should encourage their children to pray and seek God.
✔Navigating difficult topics with kids is crucial in today's culture.

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Transcript

Ruth Hovsepian (00:01.553)
Welcome back to Out of the Darkness with Ruth Hovsepian For our special Christmas series, we are exploring all things Christmas, obviously, with guests who bring a unique perspective to the season. Today, I have a guest that I was introduced to last year, and unfortunately, it's taken a year for me to get her on here, but I am so glad that she's on. Her name is C.C. Bloom.

C.C. Bloom (00:23.382)
You

Ruth Hovsepian (00:29.775)
And she is a devout follower of Jesus, Mama for an author of the top secret truth about Santa Claus, a heartfelt take on faith and the magic of Christmas. She's walked through life's moments with Jesus by her side, learning just how powerful that partnership can be. Welcome, C.C.

C.C. Bloom (00:38.606)
you

C.C. Bloom (00:53.894)
Thanks, Ruth, so much for having me.

Ruth Hovsepian (00:56.797)
It is my pleasure. So let's start off. I'd love to hear what inspired you to write your book, The Top Secret Truth About Santa Claus. And how does it bring faith into the holiday season for families?

C.C. Bloom (01:07.351)
You

C.C. Bloom (01:12.374)
Yeah, well, so I'm a mom, like you said, a mom of four young children. Also, we were foster family for a while, so I have had other kiddos in my home as well. just a place, I love my home to be a place where kids are welcome and, you know, it's always bustling around here. But you find out pretty quickly once you become a parent that this Santa Claus issue is coming at you, even at a pretty young age, you know, once they start talking and...

hearing things, Christmas comes around and they want to know where those presents come from and they hear all these different stories and different things from other people. So that the issue comes at you quickly and you suddenly suddenly start to think like, how am I going to handle this as a parent? So I also homeschooled my kids for 10 years. Actually, this is our first year not homeschooling. And so had a lot of fun and

sometimes difficult conversations with other families about how they handled this or kids would have run-ins with one another where, know, especially your oldest tends to be the one that you can wait a little longer to say things to, but when you have a number two and number three, that cat is coming out of the bag faster and faster. And then when you enter into situations with other families who've got, you know, multiple kids, your kids are hearing things, their kids are hearing things, so.

Ruth Hovsepian (02:15.819)
Mmm.

C.C. Bloom (02:30.858)
It gets complicated quickly. And I think if you're a parent, you've experienced that probably pretty quick, pretty much right off the bat. And after several run-ins and just hearing and seeing different things go awry around the Santa Claus topic, I just kept thinking there's got to be a better solution to this problem. Every parent encounters it. I always, call it the Santa Claus spectrum. Whether you are...

a family that doesn't do Santa at all or a family that goes all in, you are encountering it no matter what. So it's really about when and how to approach the truth of the matter, right? And so I know a lot of families who don't really want to indulge so much in the magic story of Santa Claus. And so what I saw happen oftentimes is those families...

Ruth Hovsepian (03:08.833)
Hmm.

C.C. Bloom (03:19.8)
Sometimes their kids would come and they'd tell other kids, well, Santa Claus isn't real. The families who go all in on the magic, they could get very upset by that, right? So I started to do research about Santa Claus, really the cultural phenomenon that he's become in the world, really, and how it all started. And the truth of the matter is the story is about a real man who did exist at one time, who was a godly man, who actually was born a

Ruth Hovsepian (03:25.515)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (03:49.454)
about 300 years after Christ and was part of the early church. And what is amazing is he really did spend his time and his life using the gifts that he had to share with others. And he did it in a secret manner because he wasn't seeking the glory for himself. It was really about seeing needs that he could meet and then doing the best job that he could to meet them.

Ruth Hovsepian (04:06.544)
Mm. All right.

C.C. Bloom (04:16.236)
I mentioned that we are a foster family. My youngest son is actually adopted through foster care. And so one of the neat things I found about his story was that he is actually orphaned. Both of his parents died due to sickness. And it was in this tragic moment of his life that he actually received an inheritance and decided that's what he was going to use to start blessing others. So when you start to learn the truth of this man's story, I just thought, how can we not, how is this story not being told? This is.

Ruth Hovsepian (04:26.967)
Hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (04:43.297)
Right?

C.C. Bloom (04:44.11)
This was an incredible man. This was like godly man. I see the solution to this problem, I think. And so that's how it inspired me to kind of, that's where I started the research. And then it just was praying, okay, Lord, give me time to write this. Like I said, I have four young kids at the time. were, I think, still fostering. And so it was a very busy time in my life. And then through some really crazy circumstances.

after lot of prayer and asking for time to write, God gave me a little bit of time to write and this was the first thing that I wanted to tackle. So I sat down and it took about two hours, the whole thing, but all the research had been done. I was just waiting for the quiet moment. And so when it came, it just flowed out and it was a fun project to do. And since then it's been, you know, the publishing process and all those things.

Ruth Hovsepian (05:22.775)
Mmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (05:35.945)
Yeah, you know, I, I went through the same kind of thought process when my kids were young with, you know, Santa Claus and the birth of Jesus and how to kind of bring the two together or if I was going to. And I remember growing up, my parents never one way or another ever talked about it. I come from a very conservative evangelical family. So we never.

really had that, you know, like that mystery or whatever. But I do remember as a young child, you know, when we celebrated with extended family, one of my uncles would put on the Santa suit and come in and give a gift or the kids would sit on his lap and talk to him and then he would leave and the adults would laugh. But we never ever lost.

C.C. Bloom (06:19.913)
Hehehehe

Ruth Hovsepian (06:32.259)
sight of what we were celebrating and that was the birth of Jesus because that's what we were surrounded with. Now, when my kids were growing up, obviously, you know, media was out there. I mean, my kids are old enough that there wasn't social media, but there was a lot of television and movies and I love movies and you know, my kids love it as well. So I never, so this is the funny thing about it. I never went out of my way

to create this mystery around Santa Claus. But neither did I take away from it, if that makes sense. Like I never said there wasn't and I never said there was. There was a Santa Claus. And when my kids were little, there was a gift, the cheapest gift under the tree was from Santa Claus. Because I was not going to compete with Santa Claus, you know?

C.C. Bloom (07:15.886)
Mm-hmm.

C.C. Bloom (07:25.464)
Hahaha

C.C. Bloom (07:29.966)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (07:30.975)
And I've said this to parents over the years, stop. If you are following the Santa Claus route, don't make the biggest gift from Santa Claus because as a parent, then you have to compete with this.

C.C. Bloom (07:46.549)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (07:49.239)
You know, fairy tale kind of like, because that's what most of us are looking at, not behind the true story of St. Nicholas, right? So that's how my kids grew up. I never really said anything about it, you know, behave or else you don't get gifts. I never did that to my kids. the, think the stocking was part of Santa Claus and I have to tell you, Cici, my oldest

C.C. Bloom (07:57.762)
Yeah, yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (08:19.079)
is gonna be 33 just before Christmas. And my youngest is 27 and a half. Let's put the half in there. And let me tell you, they want the stocking from Santa Claus. So when they come over.

C.C. Bloom (08:22.382)
you

C.C. Bloom (08:32.622)
Well, know, that stocking is part of the true story. So there's that.

Ruth Hovsepian (08:39.395)
I know, I know. And it's, it's, it's really interesting though. You know, like that at, even as an adult, certain traditions in the family stand. And in our case, it's the, the stocking from Santa Claus, you know? And, and now as my kids have of course gotten older, there's a stocking for mom as well.

C.C. Bloom (08:50.168)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (08:55.946)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (09:04.27)
you

Ruth Hovsepian (09:05.099)
And, you know, I'll say, guys, this is such a great little thing, you know, whatever's in my stocking. they'll go, yeah, thanks, Santa Claus. I'm like, okay, we're going that down that route. But you're right. You know, like these are little traditions I think that we have that I think if I believe that if it does, if it's not taking away from what really Christmas is about and your children, you know,

C.C. Bloom (09:14.035)
you

Ruth Hovsepian (09:34.743)
They're not, you know, they're not in this mad, you know, crazy place where they're constantly talking about Santa Claus and gifts. I think there's a balance. And I think that that balance has to be, first of all, across the board in their lives, 365 days a year. And I'm like this about Easter as well, you know? I don't...

C.C. Bloom (09:46.612)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (10:03.211)
You know, if families want to celebrate with Easter bunnies and, and chocolate, I don't have a problem with that. That's for each family to deal with. I never went into it, but nor was I against it. I just wanted to make sure that always the emphasis was what we were celebrating and not all the other stuff. The other stuff were cute and fun. And, you know, I would be a hypocrite to say.

C.C. Bloom (10:29.633)
Right.

Ruth Hovsepian (10:32.831)
At Christmas and Easter, I'm not gonna have all of these elements, but throughout the year, my kids are allowed to maybe believe in the tooth fairy or I don't know, whatever. And all of a sudden I strip away all of these other, and they're traditions. Some people may disagree with me, but.

C.C. Bloom (10:43.128)
Right.

C.C. Bloom (10:55.406)
No, but I think having traditions in our family, it's a great thing to have as families, to have the different things you do every year that your kids look forward to even when they're adults. And so, yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:03.765)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:07.915)
What's the one thing your family really, what's one tradition in your family that you can't get away from, you need to keep?

C.C. Bloom (11:17.082)
man, you know what, well for Christmas specifically or just in general, gosh. I mean, yeah, my kids like the stockings too. also, we do, we as a family together when we decorate our Christmas tree, a different kid each year gets to put the star on top of the tree. And my husband, it's really funny, because my husband has always traditionally grabbed whatever kid it was and hoisted them to the top.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:20.619)
Yeah. Yeah, for Christmas.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:26.966)
Right?

Ruth Hovsepian (11:36.641)
Yeah, of course.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:42.091)
Right.

C.C. Bloom (11:43.672)
Well now my oldest is 14, my youngest is gonna be eight this week. And my eight year old is pretty big too. So it was really funny last year, I think it was my, he's 12 now, so he was like 11. Definitely doesn't need to be hoisted anymore, we could get like a ladder. And he was like, no daddy, you gotta pick me up. So I'm just laughing because I'm like imagining them at 25 years old being like, come on dad. Time to put me up there. Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (11:56.438)
Right?

That's right.

Ruth Hovsepian (12:03.499)
no!

I know they may be the ones lifting dad up soon, you know, to the other way. I know my son is the tallest, my son's six, four. My tree is like seven and a half feet. So guess who puts the final thing? But I'll tell you something, C.C, one of the things I find really amusing with my kids is the fact that they were given years ago, just very simple, what is it, like monogrammed hearts.

C.C. Bloom (12:13.987)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (12:37.041)
And there's another, they have a couple of things that have their names on it. You should see the three of them sneakily coming on to coming to the tree and moving each other's ornament so that there's a stop and front, you know, and there's like, who's going to win? He's one, my son's six, four, the girls are like five, six, five, seven. They don't have a chance.

C.C. Bloom (12:44.366)
Mmm.

C.C. Bloom (12:50.574)
Yes.

C.C. Bloom (12:56.227)
Yes.

C.C. Bloom (13:00.873)
Hahaha.

Ruth Hovsepian (13:04.885)
But I tell you, it's so much fun to see certain, and these are simple traditions, and I like that. I like it that it doesn't cost us anything and we don't have to go and spend a lot of time. It's just a fun tradition that they also make memories with.

C.C. Bloom (13:29.762)
Yeah, no, absolutely.

Ruth Hovsepian (13:32.287)
Yeah. Well, tell me another way that your, your family may celebrate Christmas in a way that keeps faith at, you know, at the center point of it. Do you have anything that you guys do?

C.C. Bloom (13:46.666)
Yeah, well surrounding that, tradition with the star, we always read the Christmas story, you know, from Luke 2 together. And so that's part of it. Everybody's got to be together. We do that. And so it's funny because sometimes our Christmas tree will sit without the star, you know, until we can all be together as a family. My husband's a firefighter, so he'll be on long shifts sometimes. This is fire season in California where we live. So we wait until we can all be together. We read that story together and then the star goes up. So that's one thing.

Ruth Hovsepian (13:50.679)
Mm-hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (13:59.85)
Right?

Ruth Hovsepian (14:05.195)
Right?

C.C. Bloom (14:15.124)
In writing this book, will say like my main goal and focus was to help families refocus on the birth of Jesus at this time because while Santa Claus is a fun part of it and he was a real man, the only reason his story matters and the only reason we still know it today really is because of the miraculous piece of it and what he did knowing God's call on his life. so, yeah, I just, like I mentioned earlier, I love that in his darkest moment of his life.

Ruth Hovsepian (14:22.007)
Mm.

Ruth Hovsepian (14:32.641)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (14:44.802)
He didn't crumble. He took what he had left and used it for others. And so the book talks about his story and it starts with him as a child because I think it's so important that these, kids that are reading this and his families, my hope is that parents are reading this book with their children. And so as families, when you sit down to read it, your kid hopefully will get to see themselves in this book a little bit too. Like Saint Nick Santa Claus, this phenomenon that they know about started as a young child and it was,

Ruth Hovsepian (14:54.485)
Mm-hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (15:02.486)
Right.

Ruth Hovsepian (15:11.607)
Mmm.

C.C. Bloom (15:13.902)
probably when he was about 12 to 14 years old is when he lost both of his parents. And from there, this thing happened that has made him a household name around the world. I mean, it's amazing to see. And in the book, it goes through kind of all this of what he did. And then it shows all these different Santas that we would know around the world. Like, because different places, he looks a little different. There's some different traditions that surround him in different countries.

Ruth Hovsepian (15:33.398)
Right?

C.C. Bloom (15:41.07)
But it's neat because his story really did travel around the world and it talks a little bit about that in the book. And then it gets to a next part of like, you might be sad to know that the magic part of the story isn't, you know, that part is like the fun, silly stuff that has been added, but the cool part is that this was a real man. And the best part about knowing that is that if he could make that kind of an impact on the world, so can you. And so my...

Ruth Hovsepian (15:46.625)
Right?

C.C. Bloom (16:09.418)
in writing this book, The Top Secret Truth About Santa Claus, my hope was for families at Christmas to start teaching their kids to have eyes for others. know, God tells us to love Him and to love others. Those are the two greatest commandments, right, in the whole Bible. so, Saint Nick was a great example of that. Like, he loved the Lord, the Lord God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. And he loved his neighbor as himself. And so,

Ruth Hovsepian (16:23.935)
Hmm.

C.C. Bloom (16:39.272)
using that example at Christmas time, I think is a great way to teach our kids to do the same thing. And then when they come to that time that like they could be sad that, I'm finding out that this isn't what I thought it was or, or if you're using this book, you know, to start your Santa Claus traditions, the exciting part is this opportunity for kids and families to come together and do as St. Nick did, be inspired by what the Lord has done in your life.

Ruth Hovsepian (16:54.665)
Right?

C.C. Bloom (17:08.632)
have eyes for other people and enact loving God and loving others in a way that you can do it in your home with your family. And so I kind of, the second half of the book kind of sets families onto missions of like looking out for what God is putting in your life, who he's putting in your life, how you can have your eyes open to see them and what you might be able to do individually as a child and together as a family to bless others, to love the people that God's put around you.

and to make an impact like Saint Nick did.

Ruth Hovsepian (17:41.791)
Yeah, I, I love that because I remember when my kids were, were really young and you we didn't have very much at the time and we, our lives were really impacted by the generosity of those around us. And to this day, we don't know, who left, you know, some bags of food for us, but it really put into perspective.

how we celebrate Christmas and that it really is about giving. When God sent his only son, he was giving to us the greatest gift of all time. Yeah, the greatest gift. again, I think that there are so many teachable moments throughout all of this. And I think neither you or I are saying

C.C. Bloom (18:12.142)
Hmm.

C.C. Bloom (18:22.2)
Yeah. Greatest gift. Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (18:40.263)
You know, don't have Santa Claus in the mix, but, but balance it, you know, let your children also know reality from fiction and what it is. And I, I always wanted my children when we were growing up to be generous and to, make Christmas giving, not only just receiving. I think when we're young and we're kids and I'm old enough where

C.C. Bloom (18:42.414)
Hmm

Mm.

Ruth Hovsepian (19:09.757)
We used to get the, was it Sears or Eaton's catalog, Christmas catalog. And when it came in the mail, man, was I excited. Not that I got any of that. Our family, listen, we had everything we needed when I was growing up, not everything we wanted, but it was yet so much fun for me to go through this catalog and circle or, you know, dog ear.

C.C. Bloom (19:30.026)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (19:38.775)
the pages to what I would have liked to have received. I also want, I think that's the fun part of being a child, but also as parents, I think I believe we have the responsibility to teach them the act of giving and being cognizant of what is happening around them to those that are.

C.C. Bloom (19:42.062)
you

Ruth Hovsepian (20:06.999)
not maybe as well off or don't have what we have and to learn how to share and that sharing doesn't mean, you know, forking out a lot of money because many of us listen, it's 2024, you know, the pain is real, right? Putting food on our table, let alone helping a neighbor, but I guarantee you helping someone else.

C.C. Bloom (20:22.868)
Yeah

Ruth Hovsepian (20:36.277)
brings so much joy. And that's what I wanted to pass on to my children. And hopefully they will pass on to their children. And those are the kinds of traditions I wanna have in my family as well. Besides, you know, having the tree go up and the stockings hung, that's fun, you know? But yeah, I would love that to be part of my family's tradition as well.

C.C. Bloom (20:57.324)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (21:05.993)
is helping those around us.

C.C. Bloom (21:08.684)
Yeah, absolutely. It's an important part, I think.

Ruth Hovsepian (21:10.923)
Yeah.

It is, it is, you know, do you have any favorite moments that you can recollect, you know, of something that happened in the past that brings a smile to your face, a memory? Probably a lot with four kids, right?

C.C. Bloom (21:26.81)
I mean, yeah, there's, I know. Yes, a lot. let me try to think. well, so my, one of my favorites, I, my oldest son went through some really difficult medical challenges when he was young, starting about six weeks old and it went on. He was like, well, I mean, it went on for a long time, but.

Ruth Hovsepian (21:55.159)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (21:55.264)
Around four and a half years old, we started to see some improvement. But when he was three, it was the worst. His condition that he was going through was like autoimmune kind of thing. It was as bad as it could be. leading up to that, he started asking me if he could have a sister. And I said, well, you know, it doesn't really work.

Like that exactly. I don't just get to like order one up. Yes. Yes. But if it, you know, if it really matters to you, like these are the things that we go to God about, you know, and if it's big enough that you are worried about it or you care about it or any of those things, you should talk to God about it. And you know, talked, what is talking to God? that's praying. Yeah. So that little boy very was so

Ruth Hovsepian (22:22.564)
Let me fill out the form. Let me put out the form. Yeah, yep.

C.C. Bloom (22:48.906)
Just every single night started praying that night dear. God. Please give me a little sister dear God Please give me and you know I was like okay. I'm not sure I'm ready another Yeah, yes His health stuff and and I had him he was he's my number one I had it we had a let's see he would have been two at the time No, three at the time, and then I had a one-year-old already so anyway, he started persistently praying and sure enough

Ruth Hovsepian (22:57.769)
Yeah, yeah, no pressure, mom and dad, no pressure.

C.C. Bloom (23:16.462)
I found out I was pregnant shortly after. The week I found out I was pregnant, we hadn't told anybody. He came in, he put his head on my tummy and started rubbing it and he said, what's in there? And I was like, what do you mean? He said, my baby sister, she's in there. He told me this. I I had not told him anything. So I was trying to keep it secret. Well then, the time comes, we say, yep, we're pregnant. And he goes, yeah, it's my baby sister, I know, I told you. Of course you're pregnant, I told you.

Ruth Hovsepian (23:35.432)
Wow.

C.C. Bloom (23:45.772)
The fun part about this as far as Christmas goes is that it was Christmas, the week of Christmas when we were able to get the ultrasound to find out if it was a boy or girl. And here as a mom, the whole time I'm trying to not disappoint my son because I'm thinking, I don't know, it could be a boy. I had two boys already. I come from a very boy heavy family. So I'm thinking I'm having 10 boys, you know, I think and it's going to be a boy every time. And so we get our ultrasound. have the...

Ruth Hovsepian (23:59.286)
Right.

Ruth Hovsepian (24:03.915)
Right?

Ruth Hovsepian (24:08.663)
you

C.C. Bloom (24:11.407)
the tech put it in the envelope and we decided to unveil it to the kids on Christmas morning or yeah, to my two boys on Christmas morning. And so we actually put a little stocking up on the fireplace that was tiny and I filled it with, you know, all the little girl things. So like a little pink passy and a little pink, you know, toy and all that, whatever. So we had, I had my son open it thinking this would be his big like exciting unveiling moment. And he pulled the stocking down and I said, Drake.

Ruth Hovsepian (24:28.933)
C.C. Bloom (24:40.14)
this is the stocking for the baby. We'll let you open it. And he starts opening it up and he's so like unimpressed because he's like, yeah, it's a pacifier. Yeah. And we're like, but do you get it? What color is it? And he's like, it's pink because it's for my baby sister. And I was like, here, we thought we were having this. Yeah, he was like, I've been telling you guys this whole time. It's a girl. And so we thought, yes, we're having this unveiling moment. And he was like, no, I've.

Ruth Hovsepian (24:57.409)
So nonchalant, right?

C.C. Bloom (25:07.576)
told you this whole time that it's my baby sister. prayed, yeah, I prayed for her. You told me to pray. I prayed. God gave me a sister. that was, it was fun and sweet to have it, you know, all culminate on Christmas with his stocking that we thought was maybe this exciting moment. And he was like, yeah, I know. What's your guys' problem? So it was, that was a fun little Christmas moment that we had together. And, you know, we thought it would be more exciting.

Ruth Hovsepian (25:09.879)
You've been praying about it, Mom. Come on.

Ruth Hovsepian (25:34.997)
I'm sure as he gets older, he will never forget that or that will be part of that, you know, the bond with the sister, you know, I prayed you into being, I prayed for you. You're not, you wouldn't be here. I know the funny thing is I have, it's not Christmas related, but talking about wanting certain things as a child. And I, I've been told that I'm seven years older than my sister.

C.C. Bloom (25:38.935)
Hahaha

C.C. Bloom (25:43.33)
Yeah.

That's right. Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (25:57.41)
Hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (26:03.415)
And, know, being an only child for seven years, I guess has its perks. You know, you, you have every, and I was the oldest in the family, from, my, my dad's side of the family. And so, you know, I, I had a lot of attention. Ruth maybe could be said to have been a little spoiled in the love department, you know, everyone loving on me. But when.

C.C. Bloom (26:19.948)
Hehehehehe. Hehehehehe.

Ruth Hovsepian (26:29.167)
My sister was born, I was at my grandparents and they got the phone call that, know, the baby was born and it was a girl. Well, when my dad came to pick me up that night, apparently I locked him out of the house. And I had, I was repeating the fact that you wanted the girl. That's why we have a girl. I wanted a brother. I don't want a sister. And I would have been too.

C.C. Bloom (26:44.023)
C.C. Bloom (26:56.318)
Hahaha!

Ruth Hovsepian (26:59.273)
I tell you, kids are very opinionated about things and they, you know, like they wholeheartedly believe in it. And I truly believed that my dad had prayed and asked for a girl and hence the girl was born, not the boy. I haven't lived that one down. I'm almost 60 CC and I'm still, I still hear the story of how Ruth locked her father out of the house because she wanted a brother. But I tell you kids.

C.C. Bloom (27:04.194)
Yes, yes.

C.C. Bloom (27:09.197)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (27:13.954)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (27:29.463)
Kids are so, you know, I think kids are so, so malleable and so ripe for like planting and planting good things. you know, again, I just want to reiterate for the parents, the grandparents, aunts and uncles, right? We all have children in our lives. To fill them with

goodness to fill them with the word of God, help them understand, know, they were, you know, we, we were joking, you know, we joke about this, about social media and how it's taken over, but we are 2024 and actually coming to the end of 2024 and children are hearing so much more than I used to hear. You used to hear my children used to hear.

about all the bad things in the world. And I really, you know, I don't, I don't believe in, in putting our children into like a bubble and protecting them from things or keeping them away from things. But as, as Christians, as Christians, we have to balance what the world is, you know, throwing out there with what

the scripture is telling us and teaching our children that yes, the world can be a scary place, but the word of God is there for us to give us the comfort. I don't know, it's just something, know, and I'm sure you've seen it as a mom of four and fostering, know, children need that feeling of

C.C. Bloom (29:10.317)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (29:25.431)
Protection. Security. Consistency.

C.C. Bloom (29:27.874)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, they do. The part I didn't finish about that story is I started to say that my son had a lot of medical issues, you know, and that year was one of the darkest years of his life as far as, mean, and ours as parents trying to watching your child suffer and we were praying, praying, praying, God, please heal him, God, please. And it wasn't happening. But when God answered this prayer for his sister,

And then, you know, that Christmas, got to, you know, we confirmed that his prayers had been answered, but he already knew it. And then she was born in the midst of some of his worst, like we were being told he was going to have to go on chemo and all these different, it was some pretty crazy stuff that we were being told that chemo for 18 to 36 months and laser treatments, all kinds of stuff. And this is like his, had already lost what it felt like everything in his little life. There was so little that he was allowed to do.

Ruth Hovsepian (30:24.886)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (30:26.574)
And so while as a mom, I was feeling like, Lord, why aren't you healing my son? don't understand. He gave him the answer to this prayer in his sister. And when she came, it was, like I said, one of the hardest times of his life and our lives as a family. But we had this blessing that we knew God had very clearly answered from like that our son had prayed for. And I just felt like God used that to really build his faith as at that point he had turned, he was four.

Ruth Hovsepian (30:48.597)
Right?

C.C. Bloom (30:54.136)
So this little four year old who had this strong faith of like, no, like when I pray and ask God things, like he hears me, you know? And I do think it's a small example, but yeah, kids need to know that he's a real God and that no matter how dark and scary this world gets, I mean, like I said, I live in California. There's a lot of stuff going on. I homeschooled for 10 years and this year God told me it's time to put them into full-time school. And I was like, really? know, full-time school?

and three out of four are in public programs here. And I feel like he said, it's time to like, you've raised them up, they know the direction they need to go. And now like they need to be lights in these places. And so every day, you know, I get to walk a couple of them to school and drive a couple of them. And we pray over each of them. And you know what else is crazy is I've never prayed so specifically over these schools in my area.

Because I didn't have kids there. Now I've got four kids and unfortunately in four different schools because of their ages. But so I'm praying for all these schools and they are too. And I'm having to have these conversations with them daily about, okay, so what do you see on campus or what are your friends talking about or is that kind of language the kind of language we should be using if we're trying to be lights in the world, you know, and real stuff. But

Ruth Hovsepian (31:50.283)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (32:15.882)
It comes down to the practical. And one thing I had an interview a few weeks ago and I was talking about the Santa Claus talk is just kind of one of the first big talks you get to have with your kids. It's one that matters to them a lot because it's their world, it's the culture that you know. And I just want to encourage parents. I mean, I would love for the book to be the tool that you use, but.

Ruth Hovsepian (32:32.672)
Right.

C.C. Bloom (32:42.59)
sit down and have these conversations with your kids. Start with the Santa Claus talk, because it's kind of a soft lob, you know? This is one that you get early on in their childhood, and it builds trust between you and your kids. And if you can have these difficult conversations, you know, from these early ages, you can be trusted later on to continue having these difficult conversations. And as you know, Ruth, like with this culture, more more difficult conversations are coming at earlier and earlier ages. And so...

Ruth Hovsepian (32:48.598)
Yep.

Ruth Hovsepian (33:03.703)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (33:09.8)
I just want to encourage you parents that it is dark, but our God is bigger than all the darkness. And He is still there. He's still in charge. It's our job to take hold of Him and to trust Him and to point our kids that way so that they can have the courage and the strength to face these things that are coming at them because they are coming.

Helping them know where to go with the challenges, with the fears, with all of it. I think it's such a huge privilege we have as parents and we need to take hold of those opportunities when we can.

Ruth Hovsepian (33:38.433)
Yeah.

Ruth Hovsepian (33:53.303)
C.C, I want to thank you so much. Our time is up, unfortunately. Thank you for sharing your heart with us today and to everyone listening. We're so glad you're here for this Christmas series on Out of the Darkness with Ruth Huffsepian. If this conversation inspired you, don't forget to subscribe and follow the podcast for more heartwarming holiday episodes each week in December. And check out the show notes for more information on C.C and how to get her book.

C.C. Bloom (33:54.892)
Yeah.

C.C. Bloom (34:04.462)
Mm-hmm.

Ruth Hovsepian (34:23.209)
I really highly recommend getting this book. It's a great way, as we've said, to get the conversation going in the family and make sure you have those important conversations with your children. So, C.C, I wish you a Merry Christmas and to everyone else, and we'll see you next time.

C.C. Bloom (34:35.79)
Mm.

C.C. Bloom (34:40.491)
Merry Christmas.