Find your sparkle...

Tonight I had the wonderful privilege to go on a “father-daughter date” with my Dad to one of his meetings. Now, for most kids this isn’t such a big deal. However this meeting wasn’t like any other you might even POSSIBLY begin to imagine. This meeting was one of the “Triangle Santa Buddies”. I am going to bypass the background of how/ why because if you really know me, you know the answer more or less and if you don’t know yet, that is a whole other LONG blog post.

Basically tonight’s meeting was a debriefing of the Christmas season- the highs and lows for each Santa and discussion about each. During these discussions, I had a flashback to the last Guinness and the Good News that I attended when Andrew posed the question, “How do you keep the Christmas spirit year round?”. Looking around that room I saw multiple answers to this question.

These men pour their heart and soul into a ministry that most would call them insane for. I have. Listening to their stories of watching families grow up as they act as the family’s personal Santa, having a 105 year old women light up when they enter the room, the gifts they give the children, and the pure and undying FAITH that they have in God was remarkable. The stories they told reminded me of stories from the Bible, all happening today in a world when miracles “don’t exist”.

The most incredible part? These men don’t stop being Santa on December 26. It is a year round job. They tell stories of visiting a child in the hospital, or the one that climbed up into the sleigh with them, or even the lady in the hospice bed… all BEFORE Christmas. All of these people had their “last” Christmas weeks, even months, before the calendar says it should happen. It doesn’t even phase these men if and when they put on the Santa suit in the middle of July.

Now, what I’m getting at with all of this. Christmas isn’t about the red suit. It isn’t about the Christmas tree. It definitely isn’t about the presents. Christmas is about the SPIRIT. The spirit is what these men share with everyone they come across EVERY DAY. The spirit is what we find in the manger of those nativities that I am sure everyone packed away already. The spirit is the undying LOVE of JESUS CHRIST. Jesus wasn’t just around for Christmas day… he was around throughout the entire year. He went around and met the people, ate with the people, lived with the people, and most importantly spread his LOVE throughout the world to everyone he came across. HE said “let the children come to me” and through that he spread his love and spirit to every child and their family (the love and spirit that should be the focus of the Christmas season).

SO how do we keep this spirit alive all year? You don’t have to pull on the red suit and the black boots (although it is pretty awesome to see these men in full dress), you pull out and SHOW OFF the love of Jesus Christ to everyone that you come across. Yes, it is “Ordinary time” but as Mary pointed out in GGN, ordinary time aint ordinary in any way what so ever, so why don’t we celebrate this by keeping the love and spirit that we find during the month of December, through every other month?

It isn’t hard to do. Like I mentioned in my post about the Wise Men… all it takes is listening to someone’s story, reaching out your hand to help someone up (literally and figuratively), or even just smiling at them. While it is preferable that they know WHY, it isn’t necessary. They will figure it out in some way, and at the very least, I can almost guarantee that they will pass it on! The Christmas spirit is alive in every single one of us, all we have to do is find the little spark that it leaves and fan it until it can become a flame to share with the world.

I hear people talking about how Santa is isn’t real all the time. I am 22 years old and this is my answer to the question “Is Santa real?”…

The SPIRIT of Santa is as real and alive as ever. All you have to do is look for that sparkle in your life, the sparkle that comes from the inner flame of the love of Jesus Christ. Every man that was in that room tonight takes on the persona of a man named Santa Claus, and it doesn’t happen when they pull on the red suit. It happens when they open their hearts to the world, ready to be the gift givers that Santa Steve spoke of so eloquently tonight. Fifteen bearded men sat around the dinner table tonight. Some were in jeans, some were in red vests, and some had just come from their day job. Every one of them has a name that their friends and family know them by, but every one of them carries an even more important name- Santa. Santa is not just a name for the jolly old man that comes on Christmas Eve every year… it is a name and spirit that every single one of us can take on as we share the same love and spirit every day that these men were celebrating and sharing tonight.

My charge to you tonight? Fill in the blanks…

“Hi, my name is Santa (your first name) and I am going to fan my spark within so I can share the fire and spirit and love that was shared with me through the birth of Jesus Christ. I will do this every day by _____, because Christmas isn’t just on December 25th. Christmas is 365 days a year.”