O Christmas Tree

I have a Christmas tree story for you. A couple weeks ago Russ was trying to get our tree in before he left for work so that we could decorate it for Family Home Evening and I was at work. Grandpa Gary had cut us a tree and it needed to be trimmed a little to get in the house. It was a little tall and that was all ok. Well, Russ was measuring it and getting ready to cut it when the phone rang. He ran into the house and answered it and then went back outside to cut a little off the bottom of the tree. I am not sure what happened next other than he cut more than a "little" off the tree. It was really short. So, Russ thought that we would have a down stairs tree too this year and then he ran to Service Drug and bought the ugliest tree I have ever seen. It was so ugly that when Ty came home he asked why Grandpa had cut such an ugly tree, he usually got good trees. And, Rylie said that it was a weird looking Christmas tree. And then I came home from work and I was so mad that Russ had actually spent money on that ugly thing. Russ went to work and I was ticked off and so we didn't decorate Christmas trees that night. When I am mad I cry and so I cryed. I went to bed and said my prayers and actually prayed that I wouldn't be so ungrateful for that pathetic tree. I got in bed and didn't feel a bit better about it. I layed there and thought about how I should get up and go chop it up with my trimmers and put it out in the driveway so that Russ would have to haul it off first thing. But it was cold and really late and I was warm and also tired. So I stayed in bed and went to sleep. And then the next morning I got up and looked at it and I still hated that tree and to tell you the truth I wasn't all that happy to see Russ either. After I got the kids off to school, I got in the shower and my advice that I quite often say to my children came to me - "You will have to find a way to make lemonade out of a lemon". So, I thought about how I could make something positive come from this ugly tree. I had several thoughts come to me and so I got out of the shower and got my journal and hurried to write them down. I felt like I needed to teach my children about the Savior and about the true meaning of Christmas and I could with this tree.


I want to tell you how much we love our ugly little Christmas tree now. This is what happened.

The first night we talked about the humble circustances that our Savior had when he came into this world. And how, like our tree, He was hated by some who wouldn't see who He really was. And then we put on the lights and talked about His light to the world and about the sacrifice that he made for each of us. Also we talked about how we need to be a light to those around us. During the week we added a new ornament each night that symbolizes either a gospel principle or the true meaning of Christmas and had a story or just talked about the meaning. We strung popcorn. We put bells, wreathes, stars, candy canes, and hearts on our tree. Most of these ornaments we made. And most importantly we talked about our Savior and about our family everynight while decorating our tree. It took us all week to get our tree decorated. On the first night after we had talked about our humble little tree and about our Savior, Rylie stood up and went over to the tree, put her arms around it and said, "I love our tree now". What a learning experience our "ugly, little tree" has given me and hopefully our family.

This is one of those times in life when in a small, simple way, the spirit touched my life. I hope that my children will realize and recognize that it is through small tender ways that the spirit touches us. I am so thankful for the gospel and for my Savior and for the love that I feel from Him. How blessed I am.