Fears and Tears

There is something mesmerizing about a Christmas tree. Year after year, we pull out all our Christmas decorations. We have always had an artificial tree and after being in storage, its branches are flat and need to be straightened and fluffed out. Our tree doesn’t look like much at first as we put it together branch by branch. It seems to be sparse with gaps showing through the branches.

But something magical happens, as I listen to the background music and unwrap the ornaments, I am transported back in time and memories flood my mind and I vividly remember each special moment. It is where the past and present touch and it is beautiful.

It is an ornament handmade by my children, it is an ornament passed down from generations past, it is a an ornament celebrating our firsts – first Christmas together, first anniversary, first house, baby’s first Christmas. It is a special gift we have received or it is the ornament we have purchased together when we were first dating, years later still having a place on our Christmas tree. As more is added, the gaps between the branches disappear and the tree seems to stretch higher in the room.

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2:19

The red tree skirt is wrapped around the tree and my grandmothers church is placed under the tree. I was always drawn to this church as a child. The amazing thing is that it looks like the church we were married in, the church my firstborn was baptized in, the church my husband served in his youth as an altar boy and now, the church where my husband is assigned to as Deacon. The church lights up and is quite striking.

My husband always places the angel on the top of the tree. As I stand back and gaze at the tree, I can feel God’s presence. At the ground is the foundation, the church, shining forth its light, the large branches support the smaller branches above. The triangle shape of the tree showing God’s Holy Trinity; God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All this comes together, with an angel at the top, turning my sight to things above.

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and singing Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests. Luke 2:13-14