Just Isn’t Christmas
I pride myself on my Christmas tree. I love having a stylish tree coordinated with my home. Each year I usually add a little, or change the colour a little, but this year I took something away. I noticed last Christmas that tinsel seemed to be on the way out, and this year all the designer Christmas trees are tinsel-free. I decided to follow the trend, but I couldn’t bring myself to pack the tinsel away in a box so instead I casually tossed it under the tree to cover the base.
My 2 ½ year old is right into Christmas this year, and loves singing along with carols. She likes a particular kids’ song which says there are “a million miles of tinsel wrapped around our Christmas tree…” This explains why every day the tinsel from beneath our tree mysteriously climbed up from the base and wound its way around the lower branches! To her, it just wasn’t Christmas without tinsel. (Pic is of her putting tinsel on the tree as a baby – I should have known.) I conceded defeat, and wove the tinsel back through our already decorated tree.
It made me wonder which things I can’t bear to be without at Christmas time. I could say it just isn’t Christmas without Mum’s homemade Turkish delight. I could say it just isn’t the same without leaving the tree lights on all night on Christmas Eve. I could say it just isn’t Christmas without being woken up at 5am by an excited toddler. But really – it just isn’t Christmas without Jesus. Those other things are important, but without Him Christmas wouldn’t exist in the first place. One day Mum won’t be around to make the Turkish delight, and my kids will grow up and want to sleep in on Christmas Day. Jesus will still be the reason for the season.
It’s Christmas Day tomorrow. We have a huge day planned which will be full of family, food and fun with our kids. It could be easy to go to church in the morning and not give the real meaning of Christmas another thought. But this year, each time I see tinsel on a tree, I’m going to remember that there’s only one thing I can’t do without at Christmas time, or any time. It just isn’t the same without Him.
