These past few days have been such a blessing.  Last Friday, or so…days flow together so fast, I talked to Sister Joan from the Bureau of Exceptional Adults and Children in Holyoke, MA.  Sister Joan is running an amazing program, locally called Jericho, which supports Exceptional Adults, Children and their families.  When we lived in Simsbury, CT we attended mass at Jericho making the 45 minute drive so our kids could be part of something very special.  This was 19 years ago and during that time kids were not usually a big player in everyday Sunday service.  We would see kids sing in the chorus, or every so often have a kid’s service or mass but generally speaking kids were usually seen but hopefully not heard.

Father Wagner, who ran Jericho at the time, believed that every person should be an integral part of Sunday worship and not only included children but also adjusted his service to make it “user” friendly so to speak to challenges other may have.  Our boys would sit at desks, the makeshift altar, with kids of all ages and differences in learning.  A child with Down’s Syndrome, or Autism, sat next to other kids and diversity was truly a blessing.  Not only did they sit right next to where Father Wagner said mass but they were asked questions during the homily and actively brought Father the gifts when needed.  It was an amazing time for our guys.  They learned so much about God, Jesus, and loving others in a truly unconditional place where judgment of others was thrown out the door.  We can never thank Father Wagner or Sister Joan enough for that. God was there in that mass, you could feel his presence.  Once you feel that, then things are never the same.

After living in Simsbury, we had to move, first to Ohio and then to Alpharetta, Georgia.  With every move we felt the desire to find a home church that God was working thru like Jericho.  We ended up at Northpoint Community Church where Andy Stanley is the pastor. Again we found a place that not only preached God’s love but actually lived it as a community.  A place where you could “feel” God’s presence.  A place where giving is truly a gift, not a hardship.

When I wrote The Santa Club Book, it was in the middle of the night, about 2 am to be exact.  I ended up writing until 5 am and at one point Joe came downstairs and said, “What are you doing”?  When I write I get hyper focused and literally said I was writing a book and went back to writing, not missing a beat.  I believe that the book was divine intervention.  It was during those hours, when I was” in the zone” everything clicked.  Athletes know what I mean about the Zone. So does anyone who has a passion and has those moments of true almost perfection.  That is how the book began in written form.  Bertie, Joe’s mom, actually started it in oral form and I knew that what she said was a gift.  With a bit of divine tweaking the book now is exactly what we hoped for.  A true parenting gift, a way to answer the question is Santa Real truthfully and with a bit of magic.  Magic we hope that is like Jericho and Northpoint Community Church. Something bigger is going on.  There is more than just truth; there is a feeling of unconditional love in this little story.  It is not about a church or a religion; it is about the story that most of us spent time with at Christmas, the Story of Jesus, and the true meaning of Santa Claus, The Gift of Giving.

 Back to an amazing few days, Sister Joan would like to sell the books in her bookstore.  She loves the book and I couldn’t be thankful. We also are working with Karla Olson, a truly gifted book Consultant in finding a distributor who would like to support us with the book. Our first distributor meeting was today. Amy from New Shelves Distribution was so supportive and honest in what it takes to let people know about this book.  She also sees how special this little book is. Thanks Amy.  No matter where we go with distribution, to have a great meeting with someone like Amy was a blessing.  So big things are happening and thru this all of our family wants you to know that we are very thankful to be given such a gift in this wonderful little book.  We believe in the story of Christmas and believe in love God, love others.  We pray that this book will bring forth a way to start new traditions for your new “Members” at Christmas.  As most of us know getting gifts is wonderful, but actually giving them is way better. Have a great Santa Club Day.

Kelly

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