Do you have your Christmas tree decorated yet? Probably depends on whether you’re going to get a real one or not. If you’re like us and use an artificial tree, chances are you’ve been delighting in it for several days already.
I absolutely love having our Christmas tree up during the holidays. Excitement, joy, peace, and contentment all seem to emanate from it. Nothing makes me happier than to find a valid excuse to put the tree up a few days early, and this year was no exception. I have to admit that I don’t like the work involved, especially when I have trouble with the lights (yes, I’m mechanically challenged) and with my garland that never quite fits around the whole tree. The end result is perfect, though, and always worth the effort.
Now when I say perfect, I don’t mean magazine perfect with everything color coordinated and evenly balanced. I just mean perfect to my eyes and heart. (Did I mention before that I love our tree?!) I guess you would say the theme of our tree is “hodgepodge” — a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And each little “this and that” is dearly loved and meaningful in some way, except for a few ornaments that I am trying to convince Kelli to finally start putting on her own tree :)
About 20 years ago I bought a couple of Precious Moments porcelain ornaments that reminded me of my girls, and over the years several others have been added to our tree (most of them gifts from Don or the girls, but a few represent some lucky after-Christmas sales!). We also have a Precious Moments angel tree-topper that Kelli, when she was just a little girl, named “Carolyn” after her Aunt Carolyn. Carolyn was probably in her late teens at the time and considered very cool by her little nieces :)
The rest of our ornaments come from a variety of people and places. Kelli’s favorite (the twirly one) has been handed down from Don’s family, and Kristin’s favorites are her “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament and the one that has her picture on it as a 2-year old. Several are gifts from dear friends while many others represent vacation spots we enjoyed together as a family. We even have a couple that Dad brought back for me from his travels in Russia. Then there are those that I’ve simply treated myself to when I splurge a little while on vacation :)
Each ornament holds special meaning and memories for me. That’s one of the reasons I love our tree so much, but there is another reason as well. I know Christmas trees mean different things to different people, but to me they are a symbol of joy. They show there is a celebration going on – a celebration so big that even the trees are shouting for joy. The lights, the tinsel, the ornaments all seem to cry out “Joy to the world! A Savior has been born!” Funny as it may sound, Christmas trees actually lead me to worship.
I pray that you will enjoy your tree this year, that perhaps you’ll look at it in a new way. If you listen closely, you will probably hear it singing for joy at the miracle of our Savior’s birth. Take time to sing along and enter into that joy yourself this Christmas season. Worship and be blessed!
“Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the Lord…” 1 Chronicles 16:33 NIV
I love my Christmas tree too! A few years ago, I was trying to decide what I wanted to collect when I go on vacation. I couldn’t think of anything I liked enough to display — spoons, bells, glasses, patches, etc. Finally, I decided Christmas ornaments are the perfect collectible. Now, whenever we go somewhere for vacation, I try to pick an ornament to remember the trip by. Then, when we decorate the tree, we can reminisce about the trips we’ve taken. Plus, I don’t have to find a place to display my collection year-round, so I never get tired of it. And the final bonus is that I am still trying to collect enough ornaments to fill my own tree, so this helps make the tree fuller every year!
p.s. the only problem is trying to remember where I got a particular ornament — I just don’t have a memory for that (by contrast, my grandmother can remember who gave her every single thing in her house!). To solve my memory issues, I make little notes about where I got the ornament and what year, and I tape them to the ornament box or storage place.
Thanks for your post about Christmas trees Cheryl! I’m going to have Matt read this and see if it helps with his “scroogitis”.
I ran over here from Boomer Babes looking for free stuff and realized you and I are in the same book! What page are you on (I mean day!)? Isn’t it awful, I get in these books and don’t have time to read them. But I did order a box of them to give as Christmas gifts (everyone tells me it’s a great book). So I think I’ll read your story first, find mine, and start reading one a day! We don’t have our tree up (we’re waiting for our son to come home from college and decorate with us!).
HUGS!
Amy, so good to hear from you! You will love the tradition you’ve started of collecting Christmas ornaments when you vacation. It’s fun looking for Christmas shops that are open all year :) Enjoy your trip home during Christmas!
Lisa, glad you liked the post! I will be anxious to hear if it helps soften Matt’s thinking this year :)
And Connie, I discovered the same thing about us being in the same book when I went to your site to sign up for your giveaway! Small world, huh? You can find my devotion on March 12th. Thanks for checking out my site — and have fun with your decorating when your son gets home!
Oh my gosh! I forgot I had an angel named after me. It almost made my cry. Too bad I have moved from the world of cool to just another adult who probably really doesn’t know what she’s talking about. It was much more fun to be cool. Carolyn – the used to be cool aunt.
I still remember naming the angel… and by the way Carolyn, you’re still cool! :)
Carolyn & Kelli, you guys are going to make ME cry now! :)
I want to share my Christmas tree memories. After having a place of my own for about seven years I never put up a Christmas tree. I thought why bother I’m never home, there will only be a few occassions when people will be over to enjoy it with me, it will cost money, be a hassle to decorate, I’ll then have to store the decorations, etc.
Finally after I became settled in Oklahoma in a small apartment with a fireplace, I put up my first tree. I had purchased boo koo amounts of decorations for 10% of cost from a Lowe’s clearance sale the year before. My apartment looked great. I had chilli pepper lights in the kitchen, lights over the bar, lights and garland over the fireplace mantle, I even had lights and garland in my bathroom. My tree looked awesome with fine Victorian glass bulbs mixed in with fun festive type ornaments. I had the perfect setting for parties. My friends and I enjoyed my Christmas decorations that entire year! Yes thats right, I left the tree up all year! I was making up for all the years spent without my tree. I had many memorable moments with buddies sitting by the tree and waving at people who had stopped their cars and backed up to see my tree through the summer. We always just waved and they would wave back and be laughing. It was a fun tree. I finally had to take it down after meeting a girl that I really liked named Carolyn :). I didn’t want her to think bad of me or that I was just to lazy too take my tree down. By this time anyway the paint had began to separate from the glass ornaments and flake off onto the carpet (darn those cheap ornaments). I didn’t hold any sentamental value to my tree ornaments however and threw away all ornaments from the sunny side of the tree.
Now after marrying that girl named Carolyn and starting a family I am beginning to have those sentimental feelings toward ornaments. The ornaments are like pictures in time of Christmases gone by, each ornament representing a year in our lives. My tree is now 11 years old and Carolyn wants to retire it for a larger one. I hope to find a good home for this tree. So if any relatives out there need a tree let me know and it is yours. Merry Christmas. Dave
I am loving these Christmas tree stories, so of course I had to join in! I bought a Christmas tree my sophmore year of college and started with a music theme with mainly red and white ornaments, as well as glass ornaments. My friend Chandi brought back several ornaments from different places in Europe when she studied abroad which I still use.
My tree traveled to Houston with me, but the year I was engaged to Shawn, I brought the tree and all the ornaments to his house and we put it up there. We are still using this tree and we have decided to collect Christmas ornaments from the places we visit on trips too! We also have been adding ornaments given to us from our parents and siblings, some of which come from a huge Christmas store in Michigan (which I can’t wait to visit, by the way!) Soon we’ll need a bigger tree to hold all our ornaments, but I think we’ll keep our first tree and put it in another room to decorate!
We love putting the tree up together and remembering where we got each ornament from or who gave them to us!
Dave, thanks so much for sharing your Christmas tree story! I learned more about your B.C. days (before Carolyn!)and loved hearing how your life together since then is giving you a new appreciation for things that can be sentimental.
And Kristin, I look forward to one day being able to add ornaments “for grandchild”to your tree :)
That is the greatest Christmas tree story from Dave I think I have ever heard. Dave, real men leave their Christmas tree’s up all year. :) Don’t you forget it.
Cheryl, I loved your little comment on the first grandchild ornament. Yes, when that day comes you will have a whole new world of ornament buying to explore. :) I just bought Samuel a handmade ornament from one of the volunteers at work. It is sooo cute. It is a blonde headed sheperd boy with a little sheep standing by him.
We got a new prelit tree last year which we love. Keith actually forgot we had purchased it last year until he got it out last weekend and boy was he excited he didn’t have to put lights on it.
Debbie, after my experience with my tree lights this year, I am ready for a prelit tree, too. Just one more thing to shop for, though. It probably won’t get done :)