I am typically one that knocks out things like Santa visits WELL before the now. But alas here I am almost a week before Christmas and just now getting around to it. Friday night seemed like a good time to go. Dark and a bit dreary, the line shouldn't be too bad, right?
I told the girls when I picked them up from school and that was all I heard about for the next FOUR hours- Santa. They picked out their Christmas outfits, wanted their hair done and promised to smile pretty if that meant they got to hug Santa's neck and get a candy cane.
But when we got there with an hour and a half to spare before Santa was scheduled to be done for the evening, there was a sign saying they weren't giving out any more passes. I hadn't even considered it could be THAT busy. Not even a thought. And then the reality of the situation flashed through my mind, now we had to explain to the girls that we came all this way and won't get to see Santa. They looked at us in shock. K exclaims, "Oh we can wait, Mama! We can just get in the back of the line. I just want to see Santa. We can wait until he's done with everyone else." The explanations continued but nothing seemed to do the trick. "But Mama, I just wanted to hug his neck!" A long pause ensued. "So Santa doesn't have time for me?" The look on her face was devastating for this mama's heart.
How do you respond to that? How do you tell a four year-old that SANTA, of all people, doesn't have time to give her a hug. I tried, unsuccessfully I'm sure. But I tried.
As we walked around the store, all I could think of was the passage in Matthew that says, "Let the little children come to me." Everyone else said, "Jesus has a schedule to keep and you're not the important ones here! Scram kids!" But Jesus laughed at His overeager disciples, stopped what He was doing and prayed over every child brought before Him.
Santa is a man. And just like all men, he will let you down. No matter what lies this world tries to sell us, there is no person, no friend, no spouse, no pastor, not even a seemingly "perfect" fictional being that won't let us down given the opportunity. It's just part of being human.
There is only one person who will never let us down and He calls to us daily and says, "Come to me." In your pain, in your joy, in your anxiety and your stress, in your triumphs and your tragedies, Jesus wants to be with you through it all. He will never leave you or desert you and He will ALWAYS have time for you, even when others don't.
This Bible story settled in my heart, as we meandered through the store, played a few games, wrote Santa letters they were sad they couldn't give him in person and then left. As we drove home with a car full of tired, grumpy babies, we noticed a billboard that read "Live Nativity" and it was happening right then and was on our way home. So we pulled into a small church parking lot, rolled down the windows and slowly drove through scenes filled with shepherds, wise men, baby Jesus, live camels and donkeys and a giant angel up in a tree. And in an instant the real meaning of Christmas came flooding in. I began to cry as I read out loud the scriptures they had written about Jesus' birth and how He would be the Savior of all man and listened as the wisemen gave glory to their newborn king. The girls soaked in every second. Their disappointment from before still there, just less important now. Their eyes and their hearts suddenly refocused.
And as we left grateful for the gift of Christmas they had given us, they had one more present- candy canes. All I could do was smile. It may seem like an inconsequential gift to some, but I knew what they would mean to my girls. Santa was supposed to give them candy canes. But wouldn't you know, Jesus gave it to them, even when Santa couldn't.
"Oh, Mama! We got our candy canes anyway!"
Yes, you did baby girl. Jesus made sure you got your candy canes.
The night might not have gone the way I had planned, but it ended with happy hearts, sticky fingers and the real meaning of Christmas.
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