Christmas Eve, Morning

Matthew 5:14-16

When it comes to talking about my favorite things and especially my favorite Christmas things, at first my brain goes into total overload. If it has to do with Christmas, the answer is basically EVERYTHING. But I would have to say one of my favorite Christmas things would be decorating and enjoying the Christmas tree.

For as long as I can remember, decorating the Christmas tree was a family tradition. Growing up we would make a night of it, playing Christmas music or having a Christmas movie playing in the background. We all had our special ornaments we were in charge of hanging and to this day, my mom still leaves some out every year for my brother and myself to hang that are special to us.

But now decorating the Christmas tree has become even more fun and my choice of ornaments has changed somewhat too. I no longer hang breakable ornaments because I want the boys to enjoy decorating the tree and admiring it all through the Christmas season. They were hands on last year hanging ornaments and taking them right back off.

The year Jonathan was born, I had to put up and decorate my tree before his birth on November 24. I ended up putting it up the weekend before he was born, so it was perfect timing. I had to wait till late January for it to come down, but I love watching the lights twinkle, so it didn’t bother me a bit.

I love keeping all the lights off and just staring at the tree – watching the lights twinkle, remembering the stories about various ornaments, and just taking a few moments to enjoy the Christmas season.

I LOVE Christmas and I absolutely love decorating my Christmas tree!! I hope our boys will enjoy it even more as they get older and have ornaments that are special for them. May we all be reminded of Christ’s love every time we see those twinkling Christmas lights shining bright!

Merry Christmas To You and Yours,

~ Amy McKee

Prayer

Creator God, You made the sun, moon, and stars at the dawn of creation. We praise You for bathing the world with light. We thank You for the lights that adorn our Christmas trees and remind us that the Child of Bethlehem and the One who said “I am the light of the world” are one in the same. Glory be to You, O God; for the light that shines above and within us. Amen.