Dear Reader:

Isn’t it easy to get caught up in the nostalgia of Christmases past and secretly wish those days and customs still existed? Like the picture in the title photo a lot of people love the idea of going to the woods to cut down the Christmas tree and pull it back home on a sled…or at least to the car.

The modern reality, however, is probably closer to “Christmas Vacation” with the Griswold daughter’s (Audrey) eyes freezing open during the very long cutting- down process of the Christmas tree in the frozen woods.

Christmas Vacation (2/10) Movie CLIP – The Griswold Family …

My favorite example of the custom of cutting down a Christmas tree for the local church’s Christmas Eve Service lies within the pages of Gloria Houston’s The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree. With father away fighting in WWI it is left up to the mother and daughter to find the tree her husband  selected before being drafted. One of my favorite illustrations in the book is that of mother and daughter hauling the special Balsam tree back down the mountains, on a sled, under a full moon, singing Christmas carols. A beautiful scene in my mind that never goes away.

Last year I used several  Christmas reflections/devotionals by Quinn Caldwell…it was and is one of my favorite Christmas books. Anne found one reading she really liked and sent me…I knew I didn’t use it last year and liked it too…hope you do, also.

“…See your children gathered from west and east…for they went out from you on foot…but they will be brought back, carried in glory, as on a royal throne….The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.” – Baruch 5:5-6, 8-9

Parents who, like Israel, want fragrant trees to shade their households with joy this time of year will find this passage very familiar. You go out into the tree lot, the children running with delight, you following along behind with the sled. A while later—after much deliberation; maybe an argument or two about long versus short needles, tall and skinny versus short and fat; after somebody has knelt in the wet with a saw, snow slipping off branches and down the back of somebody’s neck as they hack away at a trunk—the group comes back. And now, the children that went out on foot are being dragged back in the sled, tired but happy (or maybe grumpy), as on a royal throne.

Then there’s the tying of the tree on the car, the setting up in tree stand, the wrestling of boxes out of the attic, the unraveling of miles of lights. 

And all for what? They that put themselves through the work of such rituals do it for one reason: delight.

They do it so that the children, or so that they themselves, will experience a taste, just a taste, of the delight that Christmas promises and portends. They do it so that they, or their children, will get good at recognizing joy when it arrives, so that they have some practice under their belts at recognizing the good and the beautiful when it shows up in their lives.

We do it to call that goodness into being. It’s work, no doubt about it, this practicing for God, this learning to recognize the signs of God with us. It’s cold feet and frustrated grunts and blown fuses, and sometimes you’re right on the edge of declaring, “Never again.”

But then, you turn off the house lights, and plug in the tree lights, and everybody uncovers their eyes. And there it is: glory right in your own living room. And life is full of delight, and the house is shaded with joy, and you’re all just a little closer to the realm of God.

………………………………….

The more I thought about this reading…the more I understood the deep-seeded message within…the toil of bringing joy and delight to a “weary world.” God did this by sending His Son…and now so many of us try to keep the joy and delight alive with our own little family rituals…hoping that one day the traditions will continue to live in the next generation.

So until tomorrow…Prayer: “O God, I remember this. Oh yes, I remember this. Thank you.” (Quinn Caldwell)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*If nothing else…my family’s Christmas memories/traditions will be recorded in photos and moments spent in preparation for the BIG DAY on this blog!

Wednesday night I spent the night with Eva Cate and Jakie so I could get to Rutledge and Lachlan’s house quicker in order to keep them yesterday….some memories to remember.

Jakie wanted to wear his hat to school today….quite debonair young man!

Then I was off to keep Rutledge and Lachlan….thank goodness the sun came out Thursday and the clouds slipped away…by the middle of the afternoon, in the sun, the weather felt good…but the clock is ticking down on this seasonal weather…Old Man Winter is planning to visit this weekend. Burr! Grab your coats, hats, and mittens!

*I have come to the conclusion that the best gift I could give my grandchildren would be to put a bow on a park outside and just let them go at it for as long as their heart wishes…Merry Christmas!

*Both households have the elves taking over the wish list, as well as, the good/or bad behavior itinerary. Eva Cate and Jakie found “Buddy the Elf”  inside a toy bus on the floor in the children’s den yesterday morning. They squealed with delight!

Rutledge showed me the little elf entrance that has popped up in his and Lachlan’s bedroom. (Apparently  this particular elf is keeping a close watch on the boys…even while they are sleeping.)