Up and down the ladder

3:59 p.m. Today's project was to finish decorating our Christmas tree. It stands 12 feet tall, unless it's already grown an inch or two, like fresh-cut trees do. You can see new outward growth, the baby needles in the softest clumps imaginable at the ends of the branches. The tree is taking about 1 1/2 quarts of water a day, so it's looking pretty alive!

When Steve and I started dating, around Christmastime 1980, he had an artificial tree, par for the course for a bachelor. I was a divorced single mom before I came to Christ, and I'd been raised with medium-sized tree lot trees. The Grays did take a few years' detour during the "mod" 60's, purchasing a silver aluminum tree with pom-poms on the ends, diagrams for asssembly (a job for my sister and me), and a cool four-color wheel that rotated, casting green, red, blue or yellow hues on the tree all night. The color wheel was there to make up for the fact that you couldn't have Christmas lights on a metal tree, so we just hung baubles. We went back to real trees eventually!

I look back on those old, heavy, hot Christmas tree bulbs, hanging on a semi-arid tree that had been chopped down a couple of weeks before in Oregon before we even bought it, gradually becoming a very prickly fire hazard by Christmas Day, and wonder that there weren't more tree-instigated house fires than the many we'd hear about all over the country. We just had to make sure the lights were "UL approved," and unplug them before bedtime. Today's tiny lights don't even feel warm to the touch, but of course we unplug all lights inside and out before the last person--generally me--goes to bed!

God has been gracious to our family and to our nation! Psalm 111:4 says, "God has made His wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion."

I warmed up for my many trips up and down the ladder to hang and organize ornaments by walking down to my neighbor Cindy's house, about two long blocks, to borrow her glass Christmas plates for the table I'm hosting for the Ladies' Christmas dinner tomorrow. We had a minute to fellowship before I pulled my rolling cart up the street to the house. Another friend, DeAnna, is coming over tomorrow at 12:00 to help me wrap my Christmas china and crystal goblets in newspaper and load up the car for church, where we'll set our table. The sanctuary will be absolutely gorgeous with all of the decorated tables, and our guests will be delighted with an evening of ministry, raffles, worship and delicious food!

We are already praying for any unsaved family members and friends who will be attending, as this event is a very effective outreach! I remember hearing people witnessing to me years ago; I would nod politely, but it just wasn't my time to believe. But when the gospel was presented to me in the course of time, and I knew there needed to be a drastic change in my life, I accepted the Lord! "God says, 'At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.' Indeed, the 'right time' is now. Today is the day of salvation." says 2 Corinthians 6:2, NLT.

Up and down the ladder to the tree I climbed, savoring each memorable ornament, many handmade by my children, my former students and their parents, some I made for my family or bought for individual children. Many ornaments I bought when I was single with my oldest son. Now we have ornaments made in Sunday School by our teenage grandsons when they were younger!

While I'm not necessarily a fan of the physical changes the years have brought us, like arthritis, and steve's Alzheimer's, I wouldn't trade the decades of memories and our family's Christmas traditions for anything!

In our home, we celebrate the birth of Christ, our Savior and Lord, as the Apostle Paul describes Him in Galatians 2:20, "the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."