The Tree

"I found the perfect tree!" Judah explained proudly he stood next to a 7 ft Frazier fir at Home Depot. Not the traditional place to find a Christmas tree but living in the suburbs of Atlanta there are not a lot of choices. My husband and Judah held the tree up, twisted it around so that I could see all sides and give my approval. The truth is even if it looked like Charlie Brown's tree I would have chosen it for the simple fact that my son was so proud of his find.

We loaded our "perfect tree" into the back of our truck and headed home for what would be the long part of the Christmas Tree experience. My husband would take the tree out and get it in the stand while I quickly ran in the house to vacuum and move furniture around. Then into the house it would come. And naked it would stand in the corner while I stared at it as if the tree it's self would give me clear instructions on how to decorate it. My family vacates for this part knowing that decorating the tree takes a lot of thought on my part. Even my 2 year old exclaims "I outside!" after only a few moment of watching me look at this tree. First the lights, do I go around? Up and down? In and out? Then the ribbon, one big bow with tails that reach the floor? Two types of ribbon or one? Around the tree? No ribbon? And of course the ornaments, are there equal numbers of each? Do they match the "theme"? Do I need more color? I may seem crazy but I know that I am not the only one. We want our house to look like that magazine and the Christmas Tree is no exception. We have gotten to the point where even our Christmas decorations have to meet a certain standard to be considered acceptable.

Well as I finished the tree I stood back and thought "yep it looks good." Then my family came in. They commented on how nice it looked and asked if they could finish putting the ornaments on, but then came the 4 year old... "Mommy your tree looks pretty." My tree? But it is the families tree. Then he said, "But mom can I tell you something, I really wanted to put the star on top." And reality hit. I had failed. I had turned something that was supposed to be full of memories and joy into something perfectly planned out. Each thing perfectly in it's place and balanced for the "perfect tree".

As I sat back I looked to the right and there in the corner of the room sat a small tree that my two children had decorated. Imperfectly placed, not balanced at all, but full of joy. The excitement and joy the two boys had decorating their tree far out weighed anything I was feeling at that moment. Even after I was done with my job of decorating all I had was a tree. No sense of accomplishment, no memory that I would carry with me. Just a tree.

It was at that moment I decided I would rather have a tree that looked like Christmas Exploded all over it, than the magazine tree. I want my family to enjoy decorating each year, and remember the love and joy our family brings one another. Who know's I might even string popcorn! The truth remains that Christmas is not about the "perfect tree" or the gifts, or even the lights! Nope it's about a baby boy who came to save the world...

Interestingly enough Christ did not come as "planned" nor did he arrive as one would have desired. I personally would not have jumped at the chance to give birth in a stable. But He came, as a baby, to seek and save the lost.

Just like riding a horse...

This fall my family and I traveled about and hour and a half north of our home for our annual camping trip. As my husband and i drove with our two boys in the back I began to reflect on where we have come in the last year since our visit to Track Rock. My oldest and I played "Hey Cow" and talked about all the things we were going to do while we were in the mountains. The anticipation and excitement made the trip seem like we would never get there! But we. We set up camp, had dinner and then my son and I walked down to the horse barn where we had gone every year previous. We would schedule our horseback ride for the following day and my son was finally tall enough to ride his own horse, something he had asked to do every year from the time he was 2.

The excitement Judah had was overwhelming to him. The whole way back to our camp site he just continued to say "thank you mom, thank you", and all I could think was... "I hope they have a little horse." I am sure for Judah it seemed as though the time would never come but after a day of apples and play the time was finally here. My husband and I loaded our boys and headed to the horse barn. Once there we all put helmets on and prepared to mount our horses. I was first with our youngest and next came Judah. I was pretty sure they found the biggest horse possible and seeing this little boy with a grin from ear to ear made me think of the saying "When you fall off a horse you have to get back up and get on that horse again."

I thought of this periodically as I watched my young 4 year old son riding this large animal that in buck could launch him hundreds of feet. I made me realize that my son sitting on this horse was not all that different from many things we go through in life. In a lot of ways we are just small 4 year olds mounting and concurring our trials, and all the while Christ is there watching getting ready to pick us up dust us off and put us back on that horse. The test is having the strength and will to get in the saddle the first time and having confidence in those around you but really in Christ that he would not put us in a situation we cannot conquer. My son believed that horse was safe because we as his parents would not put him in a situation that we did not feel was safe. So there was no fear for Judah only the joy of accomplishment.

Wouldn't it be incredibly rewards to face each challenge, and opportunity in life with the same attitude? No fear, only the joy of knowing we will accomplish the task ahead, with faith and perseverance...