I have slowed down this holiday season and taken time to really appreciate and acknowledge the true Christmas season, not what we try to manufacture.
This year I actually got my tree up the first week in December. This is early for me. As I was decorating the tree I pondered on what it symbolizes for Christians at Christmas. I knew some things but I decided to do a little research on the Christmas tree. I fell down the rabbit hole but came back up with basically the same meaning I originally had known.
So here's what you might already know. It symbolizes, to the Christian, the everlasting love and eternal life given to us through Jesus.
I remember our first Christmas 🎄
I don't have a picture of it, but the memory is kept in my mind. My dad had brought us a tree because we couldn't afford one.
It was a pretty tree that I thought was perfectly shaped and filled our little home with the aroma of fresh evergreen.
It actually would have been beautiful with only lights on it, but of course my inclination was to decorate it. As newly weds, we hadn't yet collected years of decorations, we had only a handful to put on our tree. I remember being upset about it. I suppose I was comparing my sparsely decorated tree to the trees of others, all full of ornaments, garland and lights.
I went to my MawMaw who knew how to fix most anything and told her of my lack of decorations. And she said I have some dried hydrangea that we can spray paint gold and tuck in all the branches of the tree. That will fill it up and look beautiful. She was right and it did. Her care and love for me is beyond measure. She was probably saving those hydrangea for her tree but I never would know as she offered them up to me without hesitation.
Now years later I have a tree dripping with ornaments, beads, tinsel and lights. Over 35 years of collecting decorations. Ornaments old and new, handmade and handed down. Each ornament has a story. Some carry stories of others passed on to us. So now as I take in the sight of our beautiful tree it symbolizes all the blessings over the years. Too many to count. But at its core it symbolizes the everlasting love of Jesus. And all the ornaments are the evidence of His love. Lavishly poured on, full and overflowing, shining in brightness.Even the rememberence ornaments are evidence of how He and only He lovingly carried us through those valleys.
Thank you Lord for loving us beyond measure with an everlasting love. Sending your son Jesus without hesitation to save us and fill our empty spaces. And pouring out blessing upon blessing year after year. This is Christmas.Â
