O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

It's our family tradition to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put the Christmas tree up.. Well, I couldn't wait so I decided to put it up Thanksgiving night. I went into our storage shed and pulled out the tree we used last year. I was so excited and filled with lots of Christmas cheer.... but all my cheerfulness was completely shattered when I put the tree together. It looked horrible. Not the way I remembered it looking last year. (Then again.. last year my husband was home, and silly things like a Christmas tree didn't mean much to me. I was just happy that he wasn't in a war zone.) I put ornaments on it even though it looked worse than Charlie Brown's tree and decided to just deal with it. A few days went by and I couldn't stand looking at it anymore. It made me feel so depressed. Yes, it was that bad y'all! So, I turned into the Grinch and took the tree down.

While in Grinch mode I thought seriously about just skipping Christmas this year...

..until I was in Kmart one night for toilet paper (just keepin' it real, haha) and I saw a beautiful $200 tree on sale. I could buy it for less than 100 dollars, and if I didn't like it after I put it together I could always bring it back. It sounded like a good deal to me! So I bought it, brought it home and listened to my favorite Christmas CD (Casting Crowns Peace On Earth) while putting it together.

Somewhere in the middle of putting ornaments on the tree I zoned out and completely forgot about making the tree look "perfect." I got lost in the music. I was singing praises to my King and that's all that mattered in that moment. I was reminded of the true meaning of Christmas, and that when you strip away all the tinsel and glitter.. God's real truth shines through.