Life with Santa — April Reflection
In this month’s Life with Santa blog, I’ve been thinking about what it means to carry the spirit of Christmas into everyday life…
Our time at Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky was a beautiful way to step just outside of our comfort zone and lend a helping hand.
There’s something about a place like that that slows things down in the best possible way. Life feels a little quieter. The air a little softer. And the simple act of helping begins to feel like its own kind of gift.
We spent our days in the greenhouses – quite literally playing in the dirt. For our small team of four, we did a surprising amount of work in that soil. But somewhere between the planting and the laughter, it stopped feeling like work.
What stayed with me most wasn’t what we accomplished, but what was quietly forming around us. We deepened our relationships, and new friendships began to take shape in the in-between moments.
And perhaps the greatest gift of all was watching our son, Zach, lead a team of twenty-eight-spanning ages thirteen to seventyish and beyond – with a steady presence that made space for everyone.
It’s the kind of experience that changes you… gently, but unmistakably.
Santa is always noticed.
No matter where we go, someone will ask, “Are you Santa?” or quietly wonder if they can take a photo. And without hesitation, he always responds with the same graciousness, kind, present, and fully engaged in the moment.
But what I found myself noticing on this trip was something more.
There’s a gentle kind of leadership in him, steady, attentive, and yes… just a little bit bossy in the best possible way. I’ve come to think of it as his “Santa CEO” way of being.
He notices what needs to be done, steps in when needed, and somehow makes everyone around him feel both guided and valued at the same time.
And the more I watched him, the more I realized something simple and true:
It’s not about playing Santa.
It’s about being Santa.
It’s not always easy to carry the spirit of Christmas with us. We’re working on it.
Life gets busy. Days fill up. We get distracted.
Santa, though, seems to carry it a little more naturally. There’s a sweetness about him, a steady kindness that stays with him most of the time. Not perfectly, but consistently enough that you begin to notice it.
And I’ve come to believe that maybe that’s what Christmas is really about.
Not something we visit once a year,
but something we carry.
In the way we show up.
In the way we treat people.
In the small, everyday moments that don’t feel like much at all… until they do.
Being at Henderson didn’t feel like stepping away from Christmas.
In a quiet, unexpected way, it felt like stepping further into it.
Because peace, hope, joy, and love were never meant to stay tucked inside December. They’re meant to move with us, into ordinary days, unexpected places, and moments that ask us to be just a little more present, a little more patient, a little more kind.
Santa doesn’t stay at the North Pole.
And maybe, in our own way…
we’re not meant to either.