A Christmas Tradition

It started with two little wooden birds on a borrowed tree. It was our first baby's very first Christmas, and we wanted to do something special. We had borrowed the tree from my husband's band room after school finished up for the holiday break. It was just a little tree, about two feet tall, that we placed on the piano. We had no ornaments. I made a pretty paper chain with some wrapping paper and fashioned a few bows with red ribbon. The effect was delightful. Then one evening, we decided to go shopping and enjoy the Christmas displays. That's when I saw them: two wooden birds, one blue and one yellow, that were the perfect size for our tree. And they were only one dollar apiece! I decided to buy them for our little girl to commemorate her first Christmas. And so it began.

Every year we went shopping to find a unique ornament for our daughter. As God blessed us with more babies, we bought more ornaments -- and a bigger tree! And as the children got older, they each chose their own special items. The little ones usually found something unbreakable that they could admire and play with, and the older kids would sometimes choose very fragile decorations. By then, we had decided that each child would take their ornaments with them when they grew up and moved away, and we began to keep a list of each person's collection. Every year, when we put up the tree, the kids eagerly unwrapped the decorations and hung their own pretty things on the branches.

The ornaments usually reflected the current interests of each family member. Little girls often chose ballerinas or pretty birds. Little boys chose toy horns, toy soldiers, or snowmen. One year, we had to find a fire truck for one child and a tank for another. These were found in the toy department instead of the holiday display, but that was what they wanted. A few years later, we noticed the tiny writing on the gun of the tank: Eve of Destruction! A rather incongruous inscription for a Christmas celebration! We had a good laugh and positioned the thing front and center.

Our Christmas tree is filled with memories. Some of the ornaments are unusual, and some are silly, but each one is special. As the kids grow up and take their collections with them for their own trees, my husband and I will still have the things we purchased for ourselves. And they are filled with memories, too.

This month, as you celebrate the birth of Christ, spend some time with those you love. You don't have to spend a fortune on gifts to make memories. And those are more precious than silver and gold!