O Christmas Tree

I am sitting here on a Saturday morning, drinking my second cup of coffee and admiring our #Christmas tree, which is silly because it’s the same artificial tree we have had in storage for years. This year, we had to add a couple strings of lights because many of the lights that came attached to the tree didn’t work. We didn’t put up the tree the past couple years. Things happened in our family and we just didn’t feel like putting up a tree though we made room for other decorations. Somehow, this year is different and our tree is already up. What is so special about a Christmas tree? Is it really a pagan symbol as some people say? Not in our house. We can’t visit the stable where Jesus was born but we can put a tiny model of it under the giant symbol of Jesus’ birth that dominates our living room. That’s what Mom did every year when I was growing up. Now, our manger scene has an honored place on a table in the living room out of reach of our Joe Dog and any small children who may visit. Our Christmas tree reminds me of family times in years gone by, with family who are no longer with us on memorable Christmas mornings. Like the year I got an Oliver 88 pedal tractor when I was three and how that same tractor was repainted with new decals that said, “John Deere” for our son. Grandma Davis put a lot of love into that tractor for her grandson just like my parents did when they placed it under the tree for me a generation earlier. (Now our son works for a family farm corporation and I smile when I imagine him driving a real John Deere tractor in the future.) I think about our daughter surprising me the first time she put on a Santa hat and took over the duty of passing out presents one Christmas morning. I remember our oldest grandson riding his new tricycle in the house on a cold Christmas morning when frost hung from the tree branches outside my brother-in-law’s house. Our old Christmas tree is a little worse for wear but it evokes precious memories as I finish my coffee on this lazy Saturday. When I’m gone, I pray our children and grandchildren will have precious memories of us when they look at their Christmas trees.