Wide-Eyed And Speechless

Santa Claus is in town. Yes, the real Santa Claus. He's the one who sits on the throne at Northpark Mall in Ridgeland. I love that man. He and I communicate throughout the year, even while he's back to being just regular ol' Kris Kringle. We struck a close friendship several years ago before I had children when he came to WLBT and did an interview with me when I co-anchored the morning show. Santa literally knew too much about me. I was amazed and couldn't believe this "guy" just walked into the studio and knew I was expecting (before I had made it public), he knew my husband's name, and he knew where I grew up. Santa had obviously done his homework. A few weeks later, we were at the mall shopping. We walked past the center court where Santa was holding court with the good little boys and girls. Santa spotted me walking by and yells, "Barbie! Hey! How are you doing?" Hubby turned around and wide-eyed he asked, "You know Santa? Santa knows your name?" My husband was amazed that Santa and I were buddies. He was like a kid seeing a brand new bike for the first time!

Yesterday, Santa dropped by WLBT to bring me some early Christmas presents and we recorded a bit you will get to see on Christmas Eve on Channel 3. As we were catching up in the front lobby, a long line of small children were being led through having completed a tour of the tv station. As they walked by and saw Santa, they were speechless. All they could do was wave and walk slowly by as their mouths flew open. I bet when those children got home, they forgot all about the WLBT tour but they remembered seeing Santa Claus in the flesh! It was neat to watch the awe they had in their eyes and on their small faces in looking at the man they have heard about only in stories and tales.

I wonder how many times we are in awe of God? No, He isn't standing right here in front of us, but His presence is all around us in everything He has created and in how He provides for us. When Moses came down from Mt.Sinai after having been in the presence of God, his face was so bright the people couldn't look at him for days! There are numerous accounts in the Bible when Jesus healed the sick and did other miracles. One of those is in Matthew 9:8 when Jesus headed the paralytic: "When the crowd saw that (the healing), they were filled with awe and they praised God." Psalm 47:2 says, "How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!"

How many times a day have you stopped to acknowledge the things around you, the circumstances around you, the blessing around you, and just drank in God's awesomeness? When you think about all He has done, you can't help but be wide-eyed and speechless...