SANTA! I KNOW HIM!

As all who know me at all, probably know – I LOVE SANTA!  I always have!  I’ve been collecting Santas for many years.  I even take down family pictures to hang ones of Santa for a couple of months each year.  Who knows how many Santa ornaments I have?  I love the really good Santas – the ones that have a twinkle in their eyes and rosy red cheeks!  Yes, as my four year old grandson said the other day, “Here Gammy, I put a sticker of Santa on your picture because he’s your man!”  LOL!  I loved it!  I keep telling Steve that he’s already got the white hair  – if he had a beard, he could…….

But – who is Santa?  In our house we raised the girls with Santa coming on Christmas morning and bringing:  a doll, a game, and a surprise gift that they asked him for when they saw him.  He brought several small things, too, that looked good under the tree, but the really BIG gifts – they were wrapped (when possible) and came from Mom and Dad.  The bicycles and Barbie Dream House (remember those?), were found with a big tag that said, “From Mommy and Daddy.” Santa brought a little, but oh – Mommy and Daddy wrapped all the “good stuff!”  I can remember thinking when I was a child that my Mother and Daddy didn’t get me anything for Christmas!  Of course, I didn’t know then that they were good ‘ole Santa Claus.  With our girls, we didn’t want Santa to “get the credit” for those special things.  They liked what Santa brought – but, let’s get into those presents!

We started at a young age trying to impress upon them that “anybody” can be Santa!  Santa is someone who loves others and wants to bring gifts to make them feel special.  We “played Santa” for many years.  Whether it was hiding packages in someone’s vehicle at church (We’d think of how the family would feel when they got home!) or sneaking up to someone’s house on Christmas Eve and leaving a present at the door.  Everyone can be Santa!  They could be Santa!  When my grandson was here a couple of weeks ago, I asked him if he’d like to “be Santa” for our dog, Sophie.  He was so excited!  We went to the store and picked out some “fancy food” for her Christmas dinner, a new collar, and some treats, and he got to put them in her stocking.  Christmas Day – he’ll be the one to get her stocking down and “show her” what “Santa” brought!  I was wondering if he understood the concept when he came up and asked if he could be Santa for Mommy, too.  He had drawn a picture (?) on a post-it note and wanted to put it in her stocking.  Well, needless to say, who knows what we’ll find in our stocking on Christmas Day because that little Santa got busy working on treats for all our stockings!

Yes, whenever you share gifts with love in your heart, whether they be store-bought or handmade, you can be Santa.  But, what is so much better than gifts we open on Christmas morning, are the many spiritual gifts given freely by God.  We just have to have the faith to open them.  We have been given the Word, which teaches us the way to heaven.  We have been given precious promises, forgiveness of sins, the avenue of prayer, and so much more.   “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son……” John 3:16. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!” (II Corinthians 9:15) God Bless, Courtney