Charitable visits are a major part of what makes a good Santa. Or, perhaps, what makes Santa good.<\/p>\n
You cannot be Santa for the money. If that is your motivation I\u2019d suggest that you get a tank of helium and make balloon animals for birthday parties, do face painting at street fairs, or perform puppet shows in the park. You will still get that performance fix in front of children you apparently need but you won\u2019t have to expend the emotional effort that comes with being Santa.<\/p>\n
Nicholas was a Saint. If you are not willing to honor him, and his role as a protector of children, you probably won\u2019t be happy as Santa Claus. I started out as a volunteer for Toys-for-Tots. No pay, bought the suit on my own nickel and ran to the sound of gunfire (well, replaced a bad Santa that had a number of issues that hurt the program\u2019s image.) Most Santa\u2019s cut their teeth on those free visits in the beginning. Most continue to give back no matter how successful they are on the revenue side of the house. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve mentioned before some of the expenses there are in being Santa. But I\u2019ve talked very little about the emotional cost we pay from time to time. This week was the \u201cdig deep\u201d week in my season. I did hospital visits this week. And I\u2019m as close to burned out as I\u2019ve been in quite a while as a result.<\/p>\n
Visiting with sick children has a glowing reward that cannot be purchased. You experience the joys of God in new ways. Not just in being aware of how blessed you are in comparison to the people in the hospital, but in the realization that you are able to give them a moment of respite and joy in a very difficult situation. Your heart swells with the smiles of each child. And sometimes it breaks with the tears of a parent who fears their child won\u2019t be leaving the hospital they way they came in the front doors.<\/p>\n
As Santa you have to keep up the fa\u00e7ade for the children. They don\u2019t want to see Santa crying in the hallway outside their room. I steel myself and turn the rheostat up to full brightness before I get out of the car. And for the next 2-3 hours I try to bring a smile to the faces of patients, staff, and parents whenever I can. Sometimes you cannot.<\/p>\n
Sometimes all you can do is quietly stand in the doorway to the room and pray, knowing that God is listening. Sometimes you just set your hand on the shoulder of the grandfather watching this child wither and moan in front of him, hoping that you can transfer a little of God\u2019s love from the air into his ears with a word or a prayer. Sometimes you don\u2019t have a bloody thing to say but to God. And sometimes the words leave you completely.<\/p>\n
This week was full of those moments. I visited two hospitals, one with my contingent of United States Marines. I always feel like a fraud traveling around with those guys. I\u2019m honored that they let me into their world for a while. Not just life-takers and heart-breakers, most of the Marines I\u2019ve visited hospitals with are Dads and Moms themselves. And today one of them said something I\u2019ve heard before from those heroes in their dress blues \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m not supposed to cry.\u201d This from combat hardened warriors. But those kids get to them in a way that gunfire and gritty meals in the desert never could.<\/p>\n
I won\u2019t\u2019 give specifics about what we saw, who we visited, or why it had that impact on us. That\u2019s between us, God, the staff, and the families. But I can say this \u2013 it hurts to see people\u2019s dreams crushed. Their hope ripped away. Their worlds collapse. And I was proud to be there to offer a little comfort and encouragement. And I offered a lot of prayer. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m out as a Christian. I say things like, \u201cGod Bless,\u201d or \u201cMerry Christmas,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll be praying for you.\u201d If it means I\u2019m chucked out of the hospital that\u2019s the way it has to be. I don\u2019t evangelize, I don\u2019t proselytize, but I do offer comfort when I can. <\/p>\n
And it drains you. Right now I\u2019m dragging. My wife said, \u201cOnly 10 events left\u201d before I left for work last night. I almost pitched over in a faint. It\u2019s like being in a 12 step program \u2013 one day at a time. I can\u2019t look at 10 events. I have to do them one at a time. Six individual days to go. <\/p>\n
So say a prayer for Santa. I\u2019ve prayed more this week than a convent full of nuns could in a month. And it will continue until the 25th at 11 am. His birthday. The end of my attempt to honor him and do his work for this year while wearing a red suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"