Thanksgiving Tree

“The first Christmas was in a lowly manger; it was not luxurious,” was my friend Sonia's yearly reminder to me before she went home to Jesus. On the dot, she'd say this on or before November 30, the time I would be preparing to put up my tree.

“My tree is never luxurious!" I would retort. She knew of my personal tradition of putting up a differently-themed tree every year. “It’s festive because that's how I feel on Christmas." 

“Just make sure your tree—or any décor—captures the true meaning of Christmas.”

Every Christmas after her passing, I am reminded of her words when I put up my tree. This year, I kept it as  simple as I possibly could. 

I put up a thanksgiving tree. I trimmed it with blinking lights used many times over in the past, and green and red stockings (old stocks on sale), and stuffed these stockings with all the blessings I want to thank the Lord for.

As some stories of Christmas celebrations of yore tell us—“red” stands for the blood Jesus shed for sinful mankind. And “green” stands for the new life we have if we believe in Him.

Into these stockings went replicas of my new books, photos of family, little presents from friends, and tiny gift boxes representing all the other blessings I couldn’t shrink to hang up the tree.

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV)

That, in a nutshell, had been my friend Sonia’s yearly Christmas reminder.

Thank you, Sonia.