"I don't believe you're real," she said, as she stood defiantly in front of me.

"Why of course I'm real. I'm right here," I replied with a grin.

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean, YOU are not the real Santa Claus!"

"How can you say that?" I asked.

"Because there are just too many of you running around with the same name, so you can't be real"

"What's your name?"

"Carmen."

Carmen was about 17. She had a bandana over her hair; the front of her hair was orange, followed by a stripe of blonde, then red, with black hair coming out behind the bandana. Who knows how many rows of colors were hidden underneath, as we talked outside my Christmas Tree House last Christmas season.

"Carmen?" I thought "Hmmm... now I had her" I looked boldly at her and told her I didn't believe SHE existed.

"What?!" she demanded, "How can you say that, of course I exist".

"Impossible, I know a LOT of 'Carmen's so by your very own logic, YOU aren't real"

"Oh! That isn't the same. You aren't real, and I hate my parents because they lied to me!"

That one almost threw me for a loop. How did we go from me being "fake" because of my name, to her hating her parents? So I asked her to explain.

Carmen told me one Christmas Eve when she was little; she got out of bed, hoping to catch me at the Christmas Tree. What she saw shocked and angered her. Instead of me standing there in my red suit, she saw her parents placing gifts under the tree.

This was more than just a playful teenager trying to prove how cool she was by confronting Santa. I realized this was a problem that needed help from God. I silently and quickly asked for His help. Immediately I had the answer. She started this battle by pointing out that there are hundreds possibly thousands of people running around calling themselves "Santa Claus".

"First let me tell you, my name IS Santa" I began. "The name 'Santa Claus' comes from the name 'Saint Nicholas'. I have taken this name because I have chosen to emulate a very good Christian man who lived around the year 300 A.D. Nicholas was a godly man who wanted to emulate Jesus Christ."

"Jesus teaches us that 'when you give, do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing' Nicholas was a very wealthy individual who wanted to help out a poor family. The father of this family had three daughters that desired to get married. In those days brides could not marry unless they had a dowry. Being poor, the father had no dowry to give his daughters. Nicholas heard of their plight, and secretly put a bag of gold into their house one night. He did it secretly, because he didn't do it for recognition. He did it because he loved the people and Jesus."

"Nicholas actually did this three times, one for each of the daughters. By the third time, he was caught by the father who wanted to know who was blessing his family this way. Nicholas asked the father not to tell anyone. The father promised not to, but eventually he did tell the story."

"Word of Nicholas' generosity spread far and wide, and eventually took on legend status. He did not seek this; he merely sought to follow the Lord Jesus Christ's command; to give freely and without expectation of reward."

"He was called 'Saint Nicholas' as time went by. The name 'Santa Claus' comes from that name"

"I have taken that name to emulate him, to do as Paul writes, 'Follow me as I follow Christ'."

"Now you stand here and angrily proclaim, you hate your parents, parents who loved you so much, they wanted to give you something, but not wanting to be rewarded for that love, they blamed me for the gifts they gave you."

Carmen just stood there, but now with a quite different look on her face. "I hadn't thought of that," she said.

With a couple of warm smiles, a "good-bye" and a "Merry Christmas" shared between us, she went her way. I don't know what she thought of me as she left, but I am glad that as she walked away she thought of her parents a little differently.