A Message for Santa

There my granddaughter stood, all 38 inches of her, clutching the outside of her big brother Michael’s pants leg. Her slender fingers skillfully wrapped around his thigh, Chloe leaned out from her position of safety and peeked at the large man with the white beard dressed in red.

There he was—Santa! Larger than life. The line of her peers crept forward, each taking a turn sitting with him, leaning close to his ear, and telling what they wanted for Christmas. The closer they got to him, the better she hid her 3-year-old self behind Michael’s legs.

“I don’t want to,” she mumbled. Her big brown eyes wide and a bit panicked, she hoped her big brother would spare her this uncomfortable encounter.

“You don’t have to,” he picked her up and held her in his arms. “It’s okay.”

As they exited the line, Chloe glanced over Michael’s shoulder. She took one last look at the man of the season, the man she was too timid to get close to, the man who she was counting on to bring her a present on Christmas morning.

Later that night, Chloe went with us to our local Christmas parade. Her body bobbed with delight to the tunes of the marching bands and her whole face lit up when she got random pieces of candy from characters in the parade.

Eventually, Santa’s float could be seen approaching, signaling the end of the parade. We stood up, folded our chairs, and started to gather our blankets and other belongings. We all stood in the grass beside the parade route, as the best float in the parade appeared right in front of us. Everyone was waving to Santa and shouting, “Merry Christmas!”

Chloe took one step in front of us, cupped her hands around her little mouth, and belted out, “Santa! I want Paw Patrol bath paints!” This little girl, who had been so quiet and timid, stood shouting her requests to Santa from a safe distance. She hollered the message at the top of her lungs three times as his float passed by. Chloe smiled. What a relief. She got to tell him what she wanted.

How natural it is for us to shy away from drawing close to the real man of the season, our Lord Jesus Christ. How often we scream our wants to our Savior from a distance. We hide behind the walls we call our comfort zone and peek at Jesus from afar.

Jesus stands at the door of our heart and knocks. Whoever will let him in, He will come in (Rev 3:20). He teaches us His ways and offers us peace that surpasses all understanding (John 14:27, Philippians 4:7). And amidst all the clamor of life he whispers, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28 (NASB).

Today, let’s take a step out from the norm, climb up in his lap, and whisper our needs in his ear. He already knows what we need and sits ready to hear us confide in him. He is the best present ever - God's one and only son, Jesus Christ.