A Different Kind of Christmas

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.  I Corinthians 1:18

 

A few years ago a family whose dad was laid off and a mother with three toddlers found themselves without a Christmas tree and without money to purchase one. The family did have some land with a few scrub pines. So they set out that Saturday morning wrapped in scarves, hats, and gloves to find the perfect tree.

Some trees looked perfect but they were too short. Some were beautiful at a distance but up close they were far too tall. Finally, the dad stood beside a tree slightly crooked and sparsely branched. "It's perfect," the children squealed. The dad took his saw and cut the tree as close to the ground as he could while the mom and children held back the limbs. Dragging the tree across the red dirt hill, dad with the trunk, mom, and the children each with a limb, they loaded the tree into an old rusty pickup. 

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2

After struggling to get the crooked tree into a dollar store stand, the dad set the tree in front of the picture window in the living room. All it needed now were the decorations of which they really had none. But first to string on the lights. Around the middle and down the limbs until the tree sparkled with white.  

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12

There was popcorn in the cabinet and the mom had purchased a bag of cranberries at the grocery store. So they set about popping corn and trying to figure out how to get a few more pieces on the string than in their mouths, adding in the cranberries here and there. The string was too long and tangled. They tried to tie it all together like storebought garland before they decked the tree but it tangled worse. Finally, with sore fingers from needle pricks, they managed to shorten the strings and tie them around the tree. But now what?

Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! John 19:5

There were flour and sugar in the cabinet, cinnamon, and ginger on the spice rack. The family decided to make gingerbread men. Toothpick holes for strings were too small and cooked together. Crotchet hook holes looked huge but cooked up to the perfect size. With red and green curling ribbon they hung the gingerbread people on the tree.  

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:32

The mom had purchased some red styrofoam apples at an after Christmas sale. There were only a dozen but the balls of red made the tree pop with color against the white lights. Still it needed more. There were white pines in the woods behind the house and though it was not their wood they thought it not robbery to pick up a sack of cones. The curling ribbon was perfect to tie on the base of the cones and tie to the tree. Still, something was missing.

And in thy (Abraham's) seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. Genesis 22:18

Dad bought a box of red and white candy canes from the dollar store. The children hung them around the tree with the promise that after Christmas the candy would be their treats. 

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. Hebrews 9:22

The family stood back to gaze at their finished work. With smiles from all the family, the Dad concluded that it was the prettiest tree he had ever seen. And indeed it was. Though the family tried every year to make their tree look like the straggledy pine it was never as pretty as the first tree born out of necessity. But still to this day, the grandma hangs popcorn and cranberries on the live tree and the grandpa buys candy canes for the branches and says, "It's a nice tree but it isn't as pretty as that first tree." 

This year Christmas may seem a little different for various reasons. Jesus is still the Light of the World. How will we make meaningful memories for our families that last a lifetime? 

Christmas blessings, 

Gail