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Santa Claus
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More Pages from the Red Suit Diaries (Revell Books)

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A Real-Life Santa

Ed Butchart has been playing Santa professionally for nearly two decades. Read his story.

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CHRISTMAS JOY

The Day Santa Prayed

By Belinda Elliott
CBN.com Senior Producer

CBN.com The first time I saw her, she was struggling to walk to me. She was dragging one foot, and one arm was drawn up tight to her side. It was 2002. Kylie was five, but she was small for her age. I helped her up onto my lap. She snuggled tight against me and laid her head on my shoulder. She sighed heavily, and I was sure it was because she was worn out from the exertion of walking. I said hello and asked how she was doing. She answered, “Better now.”

I asked her what was going on. She answered slowly, “I have a brain tumor, Santa. I’ve already had two surgeries, and I have more to go; then I’ll be well.”

My heart nearly stopped. How could this beautiful child be dealing with such a terrible subject so simply and confidently? I hugged her closer and responded, “Tell me your name, sweetie.”

“My name is Kylie, Santa.”

“I am going to be praying for you, Kylie. In fact, let’s pray right now.” I bowed my head, and she put her forehead against my cheek. I prayed a prayer of contrition and petition of healing for this lovely child. I didn’t want to stop praying, but I knew I could not keep it up forever. I was speaking quietly so only Kylie and I could hear my voice, but I knew that the words were reaching the ears of the One who needed to hear them.

While I was praying, Kylie’s grandmother took a picture of us. I did not know it had happened, and when I opened my eyes, Kylie’s grandmother was not there. Kylie told me her list and as she did, her grandmother came back into the store. Her little brother Conner, who obviously adores his sister, and their cousin Brittany, who adores both of them, had been patiently waiting. There were some other kids in line too. So finally I had to let Kylie go on her way. I kept my promise and prayed for her often over the next year.

Annie (my wife) went with me for the visit to High Point in 2004. It was a new venue for me – in a children’s clothing store called Tadpoles. I was afraid Kylie’s family would not hear about the new place and might not make it.

At one point I was concentrating on a boy sitting on my left leg and was aware that Annie was interacting with someone on the bench to my right. I let the little fellow down and he toddled off. Then Annie said, “Here is Kylie, Santa.”

I turned and my eyes watered. She looked terrific. Her color was better, and she had grown a lot and gained some weight. I hugged her and Annie too, so tightly I nearly melted them together. I looked at her grandmother, a delightfully loving woman named Angie Bean. She was grinning broadly and nodding her head vigorously. “Does this mean what I think it means, Gran?” I asked.

She said, “Yes, it does, Santa. Kylie is doing much, much better! The tumor is benign and most of it is gone now. She is relearning a few things, but she is much better.” She also handed me an eight-by-ten print of the photo she had taken two years earlier of Kylie and me praying together. It is the most treasured of all the photos in my album.

More tears rolled down my face and I shouted, “Praise the Lord!” for all to hear and hugged everybody again, Gran included. I promised to keep praying for Kylie and told her granny to keep me posted by email.

The year 2005 was an agonizing one. It hurt to go to High Point without Annie (after she died), but a promise is a promise. This time when Kylie came in the door, I saw that huge smile immediately. I got out of my chair and walked to her to give her a hug. Then we walked together back to the chair.

She gave me a full report, and her gran confirmed it. Kylie was still improving and her speech was much better. She told me she was being monitored periodically, and everything was going well. She was walking a lot better, although she still had a bit of a limp. She told me she was sorry about Annie. I told her that now we both had an angel in heaven looking out for us. She liked that idea.

Another year passed, and at ten Kylie is becoming a lovely young lady. I am not sure how many more years I will be able to go to High Point, but Kylie will always be in my prayers. I am sure I will get reports from Granny Angie from time to time. I have always known that prayer works. But to see a walking testimony to its power is an awesome thing. And to have been a part of it is a humbling experience. Thank you, Lord, for using me to bring joy and happiness to this wonderful little girl and her family.

Ed Butchart has been playing Santa professionally for nearly two decades.
Read his story.

Read another excerpt from Ed Butchart's book.

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Excerpted from More Pages from the Red Suit Diaries by Ed Butchart. Used by permission of Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, copyright © 2008. All rights to this material are reserved.  Materials are not to be distributed to other web locations for retrieval, published in other media, or mirrored at other sites without written permission from Baker Publishing Group.

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