Evergreen
As I sip my coffee on this sunny Monday morning, I do so by the twinkling lights of my Christmas tree. I absolutely love putting up the tree every year (hate taking it down though)! As a kid I always looked forward to helping mom decorate for Christmas. We’d pull everything down from the attic and while mom strung the lights, I’d set to work opening the ornament boxes and untangling the strands of gold beads, hanging them around my neck as if they were the crown jewels. Every ornament we had told a story. There were the clear Lucite ones with my mother’s maiden name, handed down from Grandma Pearlie. Several gold ones with mom and dad’s wedding anniversary and my name etched on them. One mom’s co-worker gifted her that had the image of a wino snowman, it played music when you pushed the button. My Garfield ornament with him dressed as an angel blowing a trumpet, a gift from my best friend in 1995.
Now that my mom no longer puts up a traditional tree (that’s another story), I have inherited all her ornaments for my tree! Every year I get to pull out my boxes and hang all the ones mentioned above and so many more. Kemper’s favorite is the Garfield angel. There are ornaments from family trips, hand crafted pottery ornaments from friends, wooden wisemen crafted for fair-trade from a seminary friend. I have ornaments made by my aunt, and of course ones Kemper made when he was little. I have a few that were made in Appomattox, and of course, now I have New Providence on the tree, too. A Hollins ornament, a Union Pres. Seminary ornament, a Montreat ornament, and of course, Hanson. Over the years I’ve bought Michael special ornaments too with themes of his favorite things like The Office, and the pièce de resistance, a hand-painted Goonies ornament. He also has a special gum-ball machine ornament from his sister. They had one when they were kids and always fought over who got to put it on the tree. Kemper gets a fun ornament every year, so we have Mario and Minecraft ornaments in the mix. And every year I get an ornament with a photo of Kemper from that year to mark his growth. Maybe your experience is similar, that a Christmas tree becomes a type of time capsule.
I started wondering how Christmas trees in homes became a tradition. Don’t be surprised to learn that it actually has pagan roots tied to the winter solstice. A fun fact, Martin Luther was the one who started putting candles on trees to symbolize stars! Anyway, if you’re interested in learning about this holiday tradition, you can read more here: https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-christmas-trees
I hope you have a beautiful holiday season surrounded by family and friends, enjoying all of the special traditions you’ve fostered over the years. And remember that God’s love and grace for you given to us in Christ, is evergreen. See you in 2026!