Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The perfect tree

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We celebrated with lots of friends and family and it truly was an occasion to be of thankfull for the people that the Lord has blessed us with.

We are doing well with our gatitude journal. We are in the 200's and it amazes me some of the things that the kids come up with to be thankful for. They have put a lot of thought into it and I am proud of them. Well, almost all of them. One of the kids has not added much with substance so we are working on that.

The journal has really helped me keep a clear focus on the season. I don't feel the pressure of the holiday season that I usually feel to buy or to preform to a perfect ideal. Ahh....freedom.

A couple nights ago I was painting a couple chairs and listening to one of my favorite Christmas albums, Ray Boltz, Bethlehem Star. The song 'A Perfect Tree' got me thinking. It talks of picking out and decorating trees with all the wonderful decorations. These words got me thinking:
The perfect tree grew very long ago
And it was not decked in silver or ornaments of gold.
Hanging on it's branches was a gift for you and me.
Jesus laid his life down on the perfect tree.

So I proposed for my family that this year we not put ornaments on the tree. Just as a symbol to remind us about what Christmas is about. Hopefully each time we look at the bare tree we will think about the true meaning of Christmas. Since it is a pre-lit tree, we are using the lights...just a little sparkle. I hope the kids will be able to talk to their friends that come over and ask why our tree doesn't have any ornaments on it.

3 comments:

Tricia said...

I think the lights are perfect for the tree as it reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world. He died on a tree(cross) so His light could shine in us. Nothing could be more loving or beautiful!
Thanks Jill.

Lori said...

WOW!!!
This idea brought tears to my eyes....
My very favorite Christmas story is: "A tale of three trees."
I read it to my family every year and end up passing the book off because I can't read it through my tears.

Lori
;0)

vAdA said...

thats a rele good idea!! i though it was kool when my mom showed it to me! Oh, i found your blog on my moms list, and thought i'd check it out. well, c u later!
vada:)