I love Christmas lights.  I don’t remember that I loved them as a child, but when Franklin and I married on New Year’s Eve 1999 our very simple decorations included luminarias outside the church and Christmas lights inside.  Today, our family spends countless hours driving in search of our favorite outdoor lights and Franklin is good to put white lights outside our house for me.  In fact, I love the white lights of our Christmas tree so much so that I put it up the first week of October in anticipation of Christmas.  Initially it’s decorated with fall leaves and gold glittery berries, but as soon as possible the Christmas decorations are pulled from storage.

I would tend to say that our tree is not fancy, as fancy is not a descriptor of myself or my decorating style, but this year in particular that would be a lie.  The base of our Christmas tree decorations had been simple blue, white, and gold balls since we married, but those that had survived years of rough and tumble were looking a bit worse for wear.   This summer I struck gold at a garage sale when I found peacock colored decorations, more than any one tree needs, when a newlywed neighbor and her husband decided on a more traditional theme.  This year our tree is fancy.

In life I’ve certainly learned that I am particular.  I have a particular way of doing things and my expectations for how things are to be done have been cause for frustration.  Many years ago I realized that I would have to lighten up a bit if I was to have any rest in my life.  My family works together to get the cleaning and laundry done and it’s often not exactly how I would do it but I’m grateful for the help.  This is the first year I allowed the Christmas tree to be decorated by my children and as I taught them my method I enjoyed telling them about some of the ornaments and Christmas decorations that are particularly meaningful to me.  I’m sure you have your special stories as well.  I’d love to hear about them.

We have our share of “Our 1^st Christmas” and “Baby’s 1^st Christmas” decorations and dozens of decorations the kids have made throughout the years.  I’m not making light of these, but they are self explanatory.  There are, however, several ornaments that I want my children to know the story behind.  I’d hate for them to be discarded in my lifetime, never to see the lights of Christmas.  Here’s fair warning: Bailey, Emma, and Caden, I want these in my living quarters when I’m old and crotchety!

The oldest is a 4 square table topper with an angel design.  I do not claim to be a seamstress.  In fact, my mothers are the only ones my children have seen sew, but Franklin and I lost our first pregnancy just before Thanksgiving in 2000 and weeks later as we prepared for our first Christmas together I made this little table topper.  We don’t talk about our loss often but this little table topper is always a part of Christmas.

My dad passed away in 2006 just 9 months after we lost Franklin’s dad, and holidays are certainly a time for remembering these special men.  I have several things that belonged to my dad but he wasn’t one to shop for gifts for us which makes the Christmas ornaments he gave me in 2002 particularly special.

One of my dad’s many hobbies in retirement was coin collecting.  He learned much about coins of antiquity and enjoyed sharing about his collection.  In 2002 he purchased a fine troy ounce of silver for everyone in our family.  He had “Merry Christmas”, our names, and the year engraved and had the silver enclosed in a plastic case with a Christmas ribbon hanger.  He also gave every grandchild a .999 silver dollar for their birth year for the Christmas tree.

While my mother has never been at a loss for something to do, the Summer and Fall after my dad’s passing my mom kept busy with a Christmas runner for each of my siblings and me.  Unlike my machine pieced “quilt”, my mom hand quilted 5 squares for each of us, titling her runners “My Christmas Memories”.  It is beautiful and my picture certainly doesn’t do it justice.  Stop by for a cup of coffee and you can admire her handiwork.

When Emma was 18 months old I was fortunate to visit Washington, DC.  The conference was short and we spent 1 night on an evening tour of the monuments.  We stopped at The White House Historical Association Museum where I purchased my only 2 souvenirs of the trip, The White House Historical Association’s ornaments for Bailey and Emma’s birth years.  When Franklin and I returned to Washington, DC with the Portales High School chorale in 2009 we purchased a third for Caden.  You might be interested in looking through the collection at the official Museum site http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_ornament/ornament.html.

I’ve continued to purchase Christmas ornaments as my souvenir-of-choice when we travel.  In another picture above you will find our Kennedy Center ornament, an ornament from North Pole, Alaska, and a Grand Canyon ornament from this year’s summer camping trip.

Last but not least I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Franklin’s favorite Christmas decoration.  Two years ago the kids and I made 24 glitter ornaments for Franklin and set up a small tree for him.  We splurged and bought every color of fine glitter Hobby Lobby had in stock so the colorful glass balls are all unique.  As I’ve considered our Christmas decorations, I find that this tree by itself is a beautiful picture of Christmas and Christ, the reason for our hope, joy, and celebration during our holiday season.

Two millennia ago, God sent His only son to be light in the world as a humble babe.  When we learn to trust Him and follow His leading in our life, He illuminates our darkness and colors our heart and mind with joy and compassion for others.  I pray you have a Merry Christmas and that 2014 is full of light and color for you and yours!

PS – The roll out for our collection of faith-based leveled readers is right around the corner.  Our final anthologies go to press in mid-December.  Check out more about Me and Thee Studios, our original praise and worship music, and our faith-based Early Reader Collection at http://www.meandtheestudios.com/.  Don’t miss the “Store” where you will want to reserve your “early bird” collection(s) and receive our 10% discount (available only until 12/31/13).