BELIEVE....

Sometimes it's so difficult to believe in much especially with everything that we've all experienced over the last few months.

So, I thought I would share this story with you. Maybe it will give us all a little hope.

A few weeks ago Joe, Amber, Claire and I visited a craft fair in Denver to check out the goodies.

We also knew that we might have the opportunity for Claire to visit Santa. She knew exactly what she wanted to tell him.

She was very patient. We actually had to go back. He had to take a little lunch break. Claire was okay with that. We actually found a booth that had a product that made "snow" when you added water to it. She thought that was pretty cool. So did the grown ups!

So, we went back and the line wasn't very long. Again, it didn't matter. Claire was bound and determined to tell him about the castle she wanted. There were four children ahead of her. A group of girls around 7 years old offered to let her go first. She said "No, thank you" and waited her turn.

When it came her turn she went right up to him and let him put her up on his knee. He was very good with her but she was speaking so softly that he couldn't hear her so he asked Mommy (Amber) to help him to know what Claire wanted.

So, Amber knelt down beside Santa and translated. At that point Santa noticed that "Mommy" had some bruises on her hand. Claire told Santa that "Mommy has owies because she's sick". At that point Santa finished up with Claire and then her turned to Amber and asked if he could talk to her for a few minutes all he while making sure Claire was comfortable.

Amber explained what Claire was talking about and at that point he took her hand and Claire's hand an offered to pray with them. He spoke softly and in a very comforting manner. He then told Amber to have a seat on his knee. He wanted to talk to her some more. I couldn't hear the words he was saying but I could tell by the look on his face and the look on Amber's face that he was very genuine in what he was telling her. I stood on the side and cried. I knew that this was no ordinary Santa. He was there for a reason.

You have to keep in mind that most Santa's will take about 2-3 minutes per child. At this point between Claire and Amber is was already over 15 minutes and there were several children and parents in line. This didn't seem to matter to him because as soon as he was done speaking with Amber he stood up and came over to speak with me and Joe. He held our hands and told us that he wasn't just a representation of Santa but that he was there as a representative of God and that the reason he plays the role of Santa is because he believes that it does help children. He said that he spends time with children that are dealing with terminal illnesses but spends most of his spare time with cancer patients. He knew what he was looking at when he looked at Amber.

When he was done speaking with us he explained that he had given Amber a Teddy Bear Angel. Something that he doesn't give out very often. Amber was only the second person he had given one too at this event and the first person begged him to give her one just because she wanted it. He said Amber truly deserved the Teddy Bear Angel and that it meant so much to him that he found someone to give it too.

The encounter was a little emotional for all of us. It was, in itself, a mini miracle and something that we will never forget.

Thank you Santa. Merry Christmas.