Without Christ, there wouldn't be Christmas...

My daughter asked me recently, "Momma, what's a tree have to do with Christmas anyway?"  Kind of shocked at the question because it seemed to come out of nowhere, I sputtered, "Whaaat?"  She repeated it clearly.  I'd like to say I didn't, but really I sputtered for the second time, and asked, "Are you asking me what a tree has to do with Jesus?"  "Yes" was her quick answer.  As she frequently is, she was contemplative and she needed a real answer.  I call it divine appointment, because I had j-u-s-t come across a paper that explained the connection between a tree and a saviour.  The sorting and purging to get to it took too many hours away from the things I want to do (be with my kids!)  I've said it before and I'll say it again, the simplifying process can be downright complicated and time-consuming!  Maybe all that time was for this one post-it note, though, written by Shawn about 5 years ago.  Here is what the note said (with a few additions by me) and this is what I shared with my introspective daughter:

The tree points upward, pointing us to Jesus, now in his heavenly home, on the throne, and at the right hand of God
The lights signify that Jesus is the light of the world and cannot be hidden (and also the wise men followed a star when they traveled to see Jesus)
The ornaments symbolize the gifts the wise men brought to baby Jesus (gold, frankinsence, and myrh)

The answer appeased her and I hoped against all hopes that what she learned from it was good and true.  I reflected on it later and the truth is I still have my own hesitations.  Hesitations because I know full-well the origin of the Christmas tree.  I choose to view it through the lens of Christianity, but could I be wrong to do so?  Am I teetering?  Internal dialogue.  I pray not.  I truly do.  I am planning to teach the kids a little more about the 3 gifts because spices and oils are a bit abstract, especially for my youngest.  Keep in mind, he doesn't even know why the wise men didn't drive in an Odyssey to see baby Jesus, let alone why they didn't take him something more modern, like spiderman shooter gloves or a kindle fire.  :)  I am excited because the lesson will be super easy, yet meaningful.  I'm equally excited that I'll get to teach the kids more about it through a production our church does every year.  We'll visit "shops in Bethlehem" and talk about such things.  And that is what I'll be attempting to do again this Christmas season....point the kids to the reason for the season, all cliches aside.  Deep down, I just really want my kids to grasp that without Jesus, we wouldn't have Christmas, nor would we have eternal life.  My fervent prayer year after year is...Dear Lord, Help us to love you more, and in turn, serve others this Christmas season.  Help us to stay focused on the true reason we celebrate in a world that begs to differ.  Amen.

PS The kids' choices for serving others this season:  Grace-bake cookies for someone and have a meal for Nonna and Poppa at our house.  Noah John- throw snow in people's faces.  Oy Oy Oy!  I told you it's a work in progress right?