Be The Miracle.

Santa and Mrs. Claus at Mardi Gras 2024

So, once again, Santa made it to Mardi Gras. There's a lot of chaos that goes into this event—shopping, gathering the parents, wrapping gifts, and, of course, getting meals together for all the kids. Have I mentioned that I’m not exactly comfortable around kids? Yeah, I know, Santa’s supposed to be great with kids, but let’s just say I’m a little lacking in that department. God definitely had a sense of humor when He called me to this task. Trust me, when I get to heaven, He and I are going to have a chat about this.

This year was a bit trickier because after the Mardi Gras stop, Mrs. Claus and I had to head over to the Family Recovery Center. The ladies and their kids couldn’t make it to the Mardi Gras house, so Mrs. Claus and I packed up and took the show on the road. And, to be honest, there was a part of me that really just wanted to go join my own family for Christmas. Even Santa’s human, right? I started to wonder what I was really doing.

And then it happened. While I was at the Family Recovery Center, I ran into a young woman I’ve crossed paths with a few times over the last few years. I’ve seen her during outreach in some pretty dark places. We’ve met at our Monday night meals, just here and there, and I’ve prayed for her more than once.

At first, I didn’t even recognize her. She looked nothing like I remembered. There was this lightness, this joy about her.

She was 41 days clean. No longer living on the streets, no longer hopeless.

And when we recognized each other and shared a hug, it felt like His Kingdom was breaking through right here on Earth as it is in Heaven.