Christmas Tree Joys

Thanksgiving was early this year, wasn't it?  Here we are, November 26th, and Black Friday and Small Business Saturday are over, and Cyber-Monday is coming to a close (of course I heard they were extending it to a week this year).  I really had no intention of doing holiday decorating but then suddenly I got this panicked feeling that if I didn't do it this week, then some may fear I was a grinch this year.

So completely out of a sense of people pleasing, plus the fact that the best two little Christmas decoration helpers in the world were home on Saturday, we got 90% of the decorating done.  For all of you who heard on Sunday my husband's lament about hearing the two words he dreads this time of year (Christmas decorations), he went to the office while my buddies and I decorated...

So now we get to Monday morning and the big tree needs to be put up.  I have experimented with all sorts of trees over the years - tall trees, fat trees, frozen trees who don't reveal if they are fat or skinny until completely thawed which at that point is too late to do anything about, fake trees, real trees, trees that aren't supposed to dry out and trees that become a fire hazard three hours into plugging in your lights.

I have a few issues with real trees in my house:

1. Getting them up to the second floor where my great room is proves to be tough no matter what shape it comes in
2. Anything shorter than a 14-footer looks miniature in my great room
3. Removing the tree on January 2nd proves even more difficult, as the needles tend to end up EVERYWHERE but on the tree by the time I lift through the living room, over my island in the kitchen, make the bend to the back door, through the back door and over the side of the deck
4. I'm still picking needles out of crevasses from a few years back...

So I have resorted to a massive fake tree and evergreen candles.  The effect is wonderful.  Two years ago I brought a brand new tree after Christmas was over (can you spell S-A-L-E?) and was expecting to be able to throw it up, plug it in and have a very merry Christmas Decorating Day last year.  But alas, when the pre-lit branches wouldn't turn on, it became my nemesis for the day but I survived.

Fast forward to November 26, 2012 (today).  I knew the tree was a stinker but we had a new problem.  The top of the tree, which is only about an 18 inch section, is as wiggly and wobbly as me on ice skates and trying to attach either of my tree toppers proved to be impossible.  Now if the tree had looked as cool as this one to the left I'd be happy.  But instead it just looks ridiculous.

That being said, I've decided there are worse things in life.  I could be lost in my sin, living for myself, denying the truth of God and running on that broad road that leads to destruction.  I could be on this earth without heavenly Father to love and care for me.  I could be working hard to earn His pleasure, hoping that when I die I will have done enough.  I could be spending every last penny I have to buy gold leaf to rub on the belly of the nearest Buddha or hoping that some nice Mormon man chooses to marry me so I could go to heaven.  Or I could even be that person who is offended by the mere thought of a Christmas tree, because using that terminology seems too exclusive to me.

But instead of these things, I am a child of the King.  I know God.  I know Who He is, where He is and what He's doing.  I understand the Christmas story, because I'm a part of it.  I also understand that there is nothing good enough in me to earn the pardon of the one true Holy God, so I choose to hide myself in the person of Jesus Christ.  Yes, we've traded identities, but I'm to the point now that I don't even want people to recognize me.  I want to act so much like Him that people accuse me of being a copy cat.

So I guess it's just a matter of perspective.  I can choose to be ticked about my droopy tree top or I can rejoice in the precious gift of salvation that gives me the reason to live.  Granted, I'll have to deal with every smart-aleck's comment about my crooked tree and I'll have to watch my bitties as they clamor to pull ornaments off the lower branches to make sure the top doesn't topple down on their heads.  But I'll still take a crooked tree over a lost eternity, wouldn't you?

So I'm thinking I might have to hang something heavy on the tip and get this gal's effect - what do you think? Talk about making lemonade...