Never out of Season

I was on a book tour this week and at one point stopped at a Christmas tree farm.  It was the middle of the week, but the parking lot was packed out and at one end sat a couple of school buses.  Children and parents were all over the place.  I've been in situations like this before and know how easy it is for Santa to be mobbed as children see him.  Somehow, I had to get from my four cylinder sleigh to the barn without a lot of attention.  As I considered how to do this, my wife called and wondered how I was doing, so I told her of my predicament.  She laughed.  She thought it was pretty funny.

She was about to have even more to laugh about.  As I prepared to get out of my car, another two school buses full of kids pulled into the lot and parked directly across from me.  Every window on my side of the buses had eyes and noses pressed against it looking at me.

It is part of the territory of being Santa.  Doesn't matter what time of year, or where you are at.  I've had children turn around in church and wave at me and whisper back and forth all giggly.  Frankly, I get a lot of attention from grown adults, too. 

So what do I say to  people and children who stop me?  I tell them a little about who Nicholas was and why he was so beloved.  And then I ask them if they are secret-givers like Santa, people who look out for others in need and give to them.  Being a secret-giver is more about who we are and who we follow.  Nicholas was a believer in Jesus and from that love, he learned to love others and give unselfishly to others. 

Being a secret-giver is never out of season.  It can be done anytime, anywhere and to anyone who is in need.  It is one of the true joys of being human. 

So let the children come.  I have a wonderful message to tell to anyone willing to listen. 

Oh, and, Merry Christmas!

http://www.santashope.com/ This afternoon, about a dozen of us Santas from Texas left for Joplin, MO to take up 2 trailers full plus RV's and pickups full of toys.  They will be passed out to the children in Oklahoma City and Joplin whose families were devastated by the recent tornados.  We took up about 1000 toys plus about 10 cases of children's books and evangelistic booklets as well.  We may well run out.

This whole effort has grown a great deal from an idea last week, and most of us (probably all of us) want to see this as a regular effort of Santas here in Texas.  As natural disasters occur in our region, we want to be prepared to take caravans to these locales to bless the children and families.  This is an effort that is part of our 'Lone Star Santa' organization here in Texas.

It will mean that we will need to begin toy drives immediately on our return.

The reason I bring this up here is two-fold.  First and most important, it is an effort that completely is in character with Santa.  It is who we are that we look out after the needs of others and try to bless them in as many ways as we can.  It is almost more important for us to do these kind of things as it is for the children and families that will be blessed by it.

Second, there is something to be said for forward thinking.  We got going on this quite late and still came up with about 1000 gifts plus books and things.  But with more planning and preparation, we will be able to better meet and bless others.  I don't know how many states and regions have regional Santa groups, but this is something that has been great fun for all of us.  We have learned some important short cuts and resources that I will attempt to write up and provide to anyone who wants to run with this in their own area.  THIS IS CHRISTMAS ALL YEAR AROUND!!!!

Merry Christmas!  "Consider others above yourself!"
Santa Kevin  sk@santashope.com

WOW! I mean WOW!!

This afternoon, I received a picture message on my phone of a 5 month girl sitting on the lap of the Easter Bunny. Now ordinarily, this would not be something all that exciting for most of us except the girls mother.  But it was the little girl's mother who asked the manager to send this picture to Santa.

Just a few days before Christmas this last year, a woman arrived at our Santa land just as I (Santa) was leaving.  My manager told the woman that Santa was leaving for a much needed dinner break and she would need to bring her daughter back in an hour to be photographed with Santa.  Well, the mother pleaded with my manager who referred her to me.  She came to me and pleaded with me to allow her daughter to be photographed with Santa.  It would be too difficult for her daughter to wait until I returned and she wanted a picture of her with Santa.  I overheard her mother say her daughter was about to have major surgery.

I went back over and took her infant daughter in my arms and my manager photographed the two of us for her mother.

As the mother prepared to take her daughter, I asked her what she had told my manager.  It turned out when her daughter was born, she had a defective heart and was going in for major open heart surgery to repair a large hole the day after Christmas.  I asked her if I could pray for her daughter, and she quickly agreed.

So the two of us took her daughter and sat back down and bowed our heads in prayer asking God to heal her and to guide the hands of the surgeons in Jesus name.  As you can see, the grandmother urged my manager to take a picture of our prayer.

It turns out that the picture on the right was the one mom purchased and took home that day.  She wanted to remember the time when Santa prayed for her daughter.

What a blessing it was for me to get this new picture of her daughter a few months later. 

Some things are just too good!

By the way, it is only 260 more days till Christmas!!!