This two-inch ornament is a china bell in the shape of a young girl. She is dressed in a red full skirt and jacket with a matching hat and holds a green wreath on one arm.

My mother, Jeanne Estes, gave this to me in 1969, the year Charles and I were married. She told me it was one of three similar ornaments purchased in about 1925 for her and her two sisters. She remembers it hanging on the tree in the living room, and later, after her father died, on the tree in the dining room.

This ornament is special to me because it was my mother’s when she was a little girl. I grew up seeing it on our Christmas tree each year. Having something for such a long time and sharing its history with my mom make it a favorite. It hangs at eye level on the front of our tree each year.

~ Nancy Chilton

I Chronicles 15:16

Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.

Prayer

Source of our joy, we thank you for the gift of music and from bells ringing to choirs singing to bands playing and all sorts of music making, this season is filled with sounds of joy. We thank you for the joy of Christmas … for traditions and heirlooms passed down from one generation to another. Most of all we give you thanks for the gift of your son Jesus, who is joy incarnate to this world. Amen.