Aren't those Christmas decorations stunning? I must
admit that they are not mine, but I’ve always dreamt of having a beautiful huge
Christmas tree with white lights and color coordinated ornaments. Something about this tree is so calming,
peaceful, and clean.
One of the 8 ornaments that somehow made the move. This has become Beckett's favorite ornament since he just learned to say "apple". |
So, when Blake and I got married, we continued with that tradition.
I’m pretty sure that I begged Blake to have a “tasteful” tree in the beginning,
but he was set on the bright colored tree that we both grew up with. His
parents and grandparents have a tradition of giving him a new ornament every
Christmas. To be honest, at first I wasn’t thrilled with having all of these
nonmatching ornaments on the tree, but the he began to take them out of the
box and show me the hand written date on the bottom of each ornament and share
the story that went along with them. He
has at least one ornament from every year of his childhood. What a wonderful
tradition! (Within the last two years, we have actually lost the box with all
of the ornaments in them and we are 99% positive that they didn’t make the
move to Oklahoma, so please pray that we find them one day).
I'll admit that I am solely responsible for this ornament. I bought it for Blake last year, after losing all of our real ornaments. |
Yep, this is what I mean by tacky... |
I, too, look forward to hanging every gaudy homemade ornament that Beckett makes without having to worry about it “messing up” the tree. Now that we’re grown, I’m so thankful that our parents allowed their Christmas trees to be used as a canvas for displaying our art projects.
This is our actual tree. Our star also got lost in the move and I keep forgetting to buy a new one. |
As I sat pondering what it would be like to have the
decorations that I’ve always wanted, I was quickly reminded that the
surroundings of the very first Christmas weren’t exactly perfect and peaceful. Baby
Jesus wasn’t born in a fancy hospital room with clean, coordinating sheets and
comfortable lighting. In fact, I would imagine that childbirth in a stable was
a bit loud, messy, chaotic, and anything but beautiful. But most importantly, I’m
reminded that it’s not about the surroundings or decorations (whether tasteful
or tacky), but it’s about the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in making everything
so perfect that we forget to remember what Christmas is all about.
I haven’t completely given up on the dream of a tasteful
Christmas tree. A friend recently told me that they usually do two trees, a
nice tree and a fun tree. Maybe I’ll try that one day. But if I never get
around to the nice tree, I think I'm okay with that now.
I do love our little Oklahoma State snowman family that my Mom bought us a few years ago. |
2) This post is in no way intended to offend anyone with a
beautiful, tasteful tree. In fact, I
LOVE walking into a house with a freshly cut, perfectly decorated tree. It’s
such a cozy feeling and it keeps me dreaming. But as for me
and my family, we’re gaudy... and I'm okay with that.
When we got married, I was forced to adopt these Christmas Scooby-Doos. Because nothing says Christmas like Scooby-dooby-doo singing Christmas carols. |
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