I've been reminded of the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of my children recently. They were so excited to get our tree for this year. We have always had a real one. Some were purchased and perfect - like this year's. Some we cut down in our woods and were of the Charlie Brown persuasion. There was the one my husband cut from the top of a pine....I think there was a foot gap between each of the four circles of branches. There was also the one that Malachi and I decided to chop down a couple of years ago. It was getting close to Christmas and we didn't have a tree. The kids and I decided to find one ourselves. We are surrounded by forest so we assumed it would be no problem picking one out. Boy, where we in for a surprise! We looked and looked and finally realized none of them looked even close to the ones sold on a Christmas tree lot. Regardless, we chose a tree that we thought would suffice. However, the tree forked about five inches from the ground so we decided to just take one side. (I question that logic in hindsight)
Malachi and I chopped in shifts...eventually we felled the tree. We were all so excited as we twisted and tugged and managed to get it into the house and in the tree stand. There was no question which side to turn to the back....it would be the innermost side of the fork...the side that had no branches. Looking at the bright side tho, it fit nicely up against the wall :) Imagine our dismay when we noticed that the side sporting branches had a gaping bare spot!! Luckily, we knew of a tree with identical branches .... the other side of the fork LOL! We quickly went outside, did a bit more chopping, and came inside with a branch bearing matching DNA. We tied it to the trunk of our tree with twine and VOILA!! Perfect!....well, mostly :) We were once again smiling ...We decorated that poor little tree and were pleased with our results.
So, as we picked out our perfect tree this year, Malachi and I agreed that while perfect trees are conducive to ornament hanging, the imperfect ones give us sweet memories and a good story!!!! :D
(I'll look for a photo of that tree tomorrow and post it here)
HONEY CHILE;I CAME BACK TODAY AND READ THIS STORY AGAIN AND I'VE LAUGHTED TIL I'M WEAK KNEED; BUT THAT IS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS; JESUS IS LOVE {AND WHEN YOU LOVE YOU ALWAYS HAVE A SMILE ON YOUR FACE} THERE WAS DEFINATELY [IS IT OK IF I DON'T BOTHER W/SPELLING CORRECTLY]?? LOVE IN THE GETTING OF THAT TREE AND STILL IS. I THINK THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS IS SO DIFFERENT FROM EASTER; AT EASTER WE FOLLOW HIM UP THE HILL AND SEE HIM DIE IN A HORRIBLE WAY FOR US, AT CHRISTMAS WE SEE A TINY NEW BABY "THAT ALWAYS MAKES US SMILE" I REMEMBER A FEW TREES WE HAD AS YOU KIDS WERE GROWING UP AND FINALLY SETTLED ON AN ARTIFICAL ONE, DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME MEANING ANYMORE. I MAY GO OUT AND CUT A CEDAR; BOY ARE THEY FUN, AND NOT THE SMILING KIND. BUT SO PRETTY AND SMELLS--
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