{"id":25384,"date":"2017-06-27T02:43:28","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T08:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/?p=25384"},"modified":"2017-06-28T18:49:39","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T00:49:39","slug":"the-servant-santa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/the-servant-santa\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering the Servant Santa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I was on my way home by way of country roads, having escaped the interstate on a busy Friday afternoon about a week before Christmas<\/a>. As I came through the small pass on the two lane road I saw a vehicle coming from the other direction. <\/p>\n

As it was heading west I could see clearly inside the car \u2013 it was Santa<\/a> Claus, driving a small pickup. <\/p>\n

I smiled to myself, rolled down the window and waved. <\/p>\n

Santa<\/a> waved back. <\/p>\n

It was great Christmas<\/a> moment, one that filled me with good cheer. <\/p>\n

Four days later I found myself driving that same road, this time in a snowstorm. The conditions were pretty bad and the going was slow. <\/p>\n

I saw flashers ahead where the road began to incline and slowed to see what was happening, a bit unhappy to lose momentum as we headed up the hill. <\/p>\n

To my surprise I saw Santa<\/a> again, this time out of his vehicle and pushing another from behind. <\/p>\n

I stopped, got out of the car and began to walk up to Santa<\/a> as he gave a big heave and helped push the vehicle back on the road way. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere you go!\u201d he yelled, to a woman driving the car who was now moving forward.<\/p>\n

He turned and smiled at me, a bit out of breath. \u201cHello!\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

I asked if he was alright and needed help. He nodded slightly and thanked me. \u201cNo, I\u2019m fine, thank you\u201d he said. \u201cShe was just stuck. And I\u2019m a little late.\u201d <\/p>\n

And with that he got back in his Toyota and headed on his way. <\/p>\n

This was the 2nd time I had seen this Santa<\/a> in less than a week. I wondered what his story was, so I followed him. <\/p>\n

We drove only a few miles or so arriving at a small northern Utah community. Santa<\/a> parked behind a downtown building and began to walk toward the city hall, where a small park was festively lighted with Christmas<\/a> lights<\/a> and decorations<\/a>. <\/p>\n

There, in the middle of the town square, was a little red and white house \u2013 Santa\u2019s cottage. Santa<\/a> went inside and closed the door. <\/p>\n

I called my wife and told her I would be late. I had the feeling<\/a> I was witnessing something with this Santa<\/a>. So I grabbed my camera, noticing a line of families with children already lined up. <\/p>\n

Not wanting to disrupt any of the families visiting there with Santa<\/a> I ducked into a bookstore to keep warm. For about an hour he greeted kids. <\/p>\n

I observed a woman dressed in a festive red dress and wearing a white wig show up and wave to Santa<\/a>. Mrs. Claus had arrived. She began to greet people at the door, handing out candy canes and Kleenexes. <\/p>\n

For another 40 minutes or so they greeted everyone who came inside but the temperatures outside were bitter and the sun had long set. <\/p>\n

As the early evening wore on things slowed considerably for Santa<\/a>, so I made my move. <\/p>\n

I arrived at the door and was warmly greeted by Mrs. Claus. She saw my camera and commented about how complicated it looked. <\/p>\n

She asked if I had any children with me and when I told her I had left all the kids at home she laughed about me wanting for Santa<\/a> all to myself. <\/p>\n

Just then some real customers came in and I stepped aside. A woman with four children \u2013 a daughter who appeared to be about 11 or 12, a son who was about 8, a little girl who was maybe 6 and a little one, another girl, who could not have been 3 years old. <\/p>\n

As Mrs. Claus chatted with the woman I watched Santa<\/a> do his thing with the kids. <\/p>\n

He was a master. <\/p>\n

Santa<\/a> wisely focused on the 6 year old, who brightened right away at Santa\u2019s attention. <\/p>\n

Santa<\/a> asked all the children to come forward but the little one was so reluctant that the older girl had to pick her up. <\/p>\n

Santa<\/a> addressed them all as a group, commenting on their clothes and asking them questions. Within a minute or two the 6 year old was on his lap.<\/p>\n

I watched as Santa<\/a> observed the reactions of the other kids as he chatted up the 6 year old. She was a chatterbox, full of comments and excitement. Santa<\/a> hugged her, nodded and smiled but kept his eye on the others at the same time. <\/p>\n

He seemed to be concerned with gaining the trust of the skeptical 3 year old who clearly clung to her sister in fear. <\/p>\n

Santa<\/a> asked the 6 year old if it was ok if her brother sat on his other knee. She consented and Santa<\/a> slapped his knee, inviting the boy to sit down. <\/p>\n

I moved in a little closer, attempting to hear what he was saying while looking outside the cottage windows at the lights<\/a> outside, trying not to be noticeable. <\/p>\n

I heard Santa<\/a> kind of clear his throat and noticed he kind of signaled me with his eyebrows. There was a chair near the window, so I grabbed it and offered it to the oldest girl, who was holding the baby on her hip. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, thank you, young man!\u201d Santa<\/a> boomed. \u201cThat\u2019s a great idea!\u201d He said as he patted the chair, inviting the girl to sit, bringing the little one ever closer. <\/p>\n

Santa<\/a> now had all four children close to him and seeing that no other people were coming into Santa\u2019s Cottage he took his time with them.
\nFrom a distance I could see Mrs. Claus eyeing us. <\/p>\n

She saw what was happening and gently guided the children\u2019s mother to the other side of the door, claiming it was warmer there. <\/p>\n

What she was really doing was putting Mom in position to see her children interact with Santa<\/a>. Their chatter stopped as both watched Santa<\/a> at work. <\/p>\n

Santa<\/a> now had eye contact with all the kids, telling little jokes and getting them to laugh. <\/p>\n

He kept his voice soft, he didn\u2019t make any sudden movements and he slowly gave the 3 year old just enough attention to make her curious as she watched her siblings thoroughly enjoying his company. <\/p>\n

Sure enough, when Santa<\/a> suggested she sit on his knee next to her brother, she jumped at the chance. I heard her mother gasp in surprise when she went to Santa<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I had brought my camera, Santa\u201d the mother said. <\/p>\n

I told the lady I would be happy to shoot their picture and email the image to her. Santa<\/a> acted like we were old friends, though we were really strangers to each other. <\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes,\u201d he chimed in. \u201cI\u2019d a like a copy of that picture too!\u201d<\/p>\n

I handed Santa<\/a> and the mother my business card. Reading that it said \u201cMyMerryChristmas.com\u201d, Santa<\/a> smiled and said, \u201cOh, you are a good boy indeed!\u201d <\/p>\n

We exchanged some information and the mother with her children bid Santa<\/a> a fond goodbye. <\/p>\n

Now it was finally my turn with Santa<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen and met with a lot of Santas in my time. They come in all sizes, shapes and personalities. I\u2019ve rarely met one I didn\u2019t like. <\/p>\n

But there was something about this Santa<\/a>. <\/p>\n

He had a twinkle in his eye, like many do, but he also oozed a spirit I couldn\u2019t quite put my finger on. <\/p>\n

He commanded attention in the most unobtrusive way. He was Santa\u2014to the core. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou,\u201d he said with a chuckle, pointing a gloved finger in my direction. \u201c\u2026seem to be stalking me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had no idea that this was the beginning of a conversation that would transform \u2013 yet again \u2013 my perception of Santa<\/a> Claus. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m 50 years old, and I never seem to stop learning something new about the man. <\/p>\n

I was about to be schooled by Santa<\/a> himself. <\/p>\n

This is the first in a series of articles about the Servant Santa<\/a>, the true tale of a small town volunteer Santa<\/a> and one extraordinary year of following him. In Part II<\/strong><\/a> of this true story we learn the Servant Santa<\/a> is more than just about kids. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was on my way home by way of country roads, having escaped the interstate on a busy Friday afternoon about a week before Christmas. As I came through the small pass on the two lane road I saw a vehicle coming from the other direction. As it was heading west I could see clearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","iawp_total_views":19,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,2,20],"tags":[641],"class_list":["post-25384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas-memories","category-christmas-news","category-christmas-opinion","tag-servant-santa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}