Well, for the first time in 40 years of marriage, Larry and I put up an artificial tree. Not only that, but instead of putting on strings of big colored lights (including flashers) we put up little white lights. What a difference! Our youngest wasn't too impressed when she came in and said it just wasn't our tree. But we like it: no needle mess to cope with this year, no tree watering, the lights went on a lot faster and easier and the results were just fine with us. We never noticed before that our ornaments are pretty much red, white, silver, and gold. It was the colored lights that added the other colors. But we liked the combination and plan to leave it up until my brother comes to visit in mid January so he can enjoy it too. 
And on top of all that, we are being good stewards of the earth: reducing our carbon footprint by using a fake tree and little lights that use less electricity.
My favorite decoration of all, though, is the stable scene. I always put that up in early December with little Jesus hidden under the hay until Christmas Eve and the wise men making their way through the bookcase "desert" to arrive on Epiphany. I have several nativity sets and leave a small one up all year on the fireplace mantle. The children like it and it's a reminder that every day we should welcome Christ into our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment