I missed posting about Christmas yesterday because I spent almost all day at church. A few of us were decorating the church for Christmas. It was a lot of fun. I mainly “supervised” because I have neither the muscles to do the heavy task of putting up the trees (we had 3), nor the artistic abilities to make something pretty out of a mess of ribbons and wreaths. Somehow, I was the one who instigated the decorating activity!
This reminds me of something a friend said to me when I was in my young adult years, probably around 22-23 years old. I was in charge of planning a retreat for the young adult group. I was amazed at how well it turned out despite my lack of experience and organizational skills. Upon expressing this to my friend, he replied, “You know how to get good people together to help you. That’s a characteristic of a good leader.” (I think he was giving himself a compliment because I had asked him to help!)
I certainly got excellent people to help yesterday with decorating at church. They were awesome.
A special thanks to Pat and Dean for taking me to Fullerton to buy 3 prelit Christmas trees, at the incredible price of…you will not believe this…$55 each – a 12-foot tree and 2 9-foot trees! Not only did Dean loaded those heavy boxes onto his truck and unloaded them at church, he had to take one tree back to exchange because one of the trees had 2 bottoms and no middle branches. All this without a grumble. Pat, his wife, said, “Oh, it’s no trouble.”
There are many others to thank including Barbara who always helps with anything and everything I ask; Annielee for her creativity and staying late; William for coming to our rescue, doing the meticulous task of fixing the lights, risking his life on the ladder, and staying late to close up; Bonnie for her enthusiasm, she probably didn’t know what she was getting into; Kara for helping whenever I ask; Amy for helping happily wherever she can; a few others who happened to be around and willing lend a hand; and for my great husband, for doing all the muscle work and putting up with my last minute cries for help.
So here is my tidbit about Christmas for yesterday and today:
True or False: the fir tree as a symbol at Christmas was started by the Pilgrims when they first came to America.
The answer is…False. Most people probably know that it started in Germany, but do you know how? In the 7th century a monk from Crediton, Devonshire, went to Germany to teach the Word of God. He used the triangular shape of the fir tree to illustrate the concept of the trinity – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. By the 12th century it was being hung, upside-down, from ceilings at Christmas time as a symbol of Christianity.
From Germany it went to England with the Georgian Kings who came from Germany. The German immigrants to America brought the tradition to the new land.
I hope you will look at the Christmas tree as more than a pretty decoration. Turn your focus to God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.