Children's Moment: Grandma's Christmas Tree

Are you all excited about Christmas?  What is your favorite part of Christmas?

Well, my favorite part of Christmas is putting up the tree.  I have great memories of decorating the Christmas tree with my Grandma Allen when I was younger.  I am allergic to pine and cedar and fir, so my Grandmother’s tree was about the only tree I got to really enjoy growing up because she had a fake tree.  It was an all-day process to put up Grandma’s tree.  During Phase 1, Grandpa had to go to the basement and bring up the big box.  Grandpa, like magic then mysteriously disappeared for several hours.  While he was gone, we unboxed the tree, then took the tree branches outside and thrashed them around a bit to knock off the dust and the fake snow my Grandma had used one year.  We separated out the different sized branches while Grandma put the base of the tree together and tried to get it to stand up straight.  After this we “fluffed” the branches to make sure the tree would be full, we wrapped the stand in greenery so nobody would know it was a fake tree, then we set about assembling the tree.

After we assembled the tree Grandma would stand back and look at the tree to make sure the branches looked right, make the adjustments and then we would start on Phase 2.

During Phase 2 we strung out all of the lights to make sure they worked.  We then wrapped the tree not once but twice with lights.  Some twinkled, some were colored, some were clear.  Grandma let us pick out the lights and never said a word the year we decided to have a “layered” tree.  The bottom layer was multi-colored lights, the middle layer was clear lights and the top was red lights.  We thought it was cool.  Grandpa on the other hand simply said “I don’t know that I’ve seen anything quite like that”, then he chuckled and went to the kitchen.

During phase 3 we retrieved the cherished boxes of ornaments and white and red tinsel garland from the bedroom closet.  Each year we went through the boxes and reviewed each ornament carefully to make sure it wasn’t broken and was worthy to get hung on the tree.  Grandma used to have these ornaments that had silky string on them and sometimes they got a snag in them and it looked like they had grown a full head of hair between one Christmas and the next.  After we had checked the ornaments, we put hooks on them and began carefully placing ornaments on the tree.  The older kids got to do the ornaments towards the top of the tree, while the younger kids got to place the ornaments on the bottom of the tree.  The oldest child who helped that day got to place the star on the top of the tree.

It was great fun to step back at the end of tree decorating and see the completed project.  My absolute favorite part of the day though was when Grandma would then set us down and remind us of the importance of the Christmas tree.

The tree was a reminder of God’s great love for us.  The tree symbolized the tree upon which Jesus was sacrificed to save us from our sins.  The tree also pointed upwards to remind us to always keep our eyes towards God and be watchful for His return.  The lights were a reminder that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light.  The red garland reminded us of Jesus great sacrifice on the cross for our sins and the white or silver tinsel reminded us of the forgiveness that can only be given when we ask God to wash us clean of our sins.  The star represented the star that shone so brightly the night Jesus was born.

See, to Grandma, the tree wasn’t just a decoration, but an everyday reminder during the holiday season of God’s great love and sacrifice.  I hope you have enjoyed my memories of the Christmas tree and when you return home to see your Christmas tree that you will remember God’s great love for you.