Santa Semblance

Yesterday was our student ministry's annual Christmas party at the Academy at West Birdville. There were over 80 kids who were going to receive very little to nothing for Christmas so the NorthWood Students, their parents, and other giving hearts opened up their wallets in these tough economic times to buy a $30 gift for each of these kids.

The party is always a blast! The kids and their families arrive at the school and are treated to cookies, chocolate milk, candy canes and, of course, their presents! But they get one other special treat each year and that is a chance to meet Santa!

Now if you look closely....yeah.....that's me. Sadly the real Santa is a bit busy this time of year, but I am glad I can help out. If you want to learn how someone comes to be Santa for a day you should check out the blog post from my last go as Santa 2 years ago. It really is a blessing to play Santa. There were a lot of suspicious older kids, but luckily we didn't have any kids try to be bold and pull on my beard. One of the kids really made me laugh, there was a group of kids showing off their break dancing skills (so great) and a group of them came over to me, sitting in my Santa chair, and said, "Santa? Do you break dance?" I let out a bellowing laugh of "Ho Ho Ho! No Santa has eaten too much cookies and milk to be able to break dance." As I shook my "bowl full of jelly". Then one of the kids looked at me really close and looked back at his friend and said, "He's not the real Santa." At first I was upset, I thought, "Why ruin the fun?" But then I thought a little more about it. He didn't say, "Santa's not real." He said that he didn't think I was the real Santa! It made me laugh because he had such a tough guy attitude in his voice, but all along he still believes in Santa, very sweet.

I don't know how mall Santas do it. I mean you have to love the spirit of Christmas to sit there for such a long period of time and take pictures with kids who may or may not want to run from you in fear! (That happened to me several times yesterday) I admire those men who sit in their Santa chairs week after week in crowed malls. There are those who hate Santa because he is....turn your children away from the computer screen now......

....not real, or a lie. Some people think the idea of Santa is a distraction from Christ during the Christmas season. But the image of Santa is able break into almost any cultural barrier in this country. Say your neighbors are of a different religion or culture, you're going to have a difficult time inviting them to a Nativity Story watching party at your house. But you throw a Christmas party with all the traditional Christmas practices and they are more likely to join. You can ask you neighbor's kids about Santa, but their parents may not be happy if you go to them and say, "How are you respecting Jesus in this year?" But invite them in your home for hot chocolate and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and you just may have an opportunity to have a wonderful conversation with them about their faith and your own.

So I will never have a problem playing Santa and worshiping God with my life. I can't wait to do it again!