Well, it is about time to take down the old Christmas tree. Some years I have been the lone decorator. At other times I have been delighted by a surprise when my family put up the tree and donned it with lights, garlands and ornaments.
Our first Christmas tree filled our apartment with the typical refreshing scent of pine. As a young married couple, our budget did not allow for costly decorations. We could, however, afford raw cranberries and popcorn for stringing. With needles and thread we created red and white garlands to drape amongst the tree’s verdant branches. With great care, we baked, decorated and hung sugar cookies to fill in the empty spots within the tree’s green backdrop.
My husband adorned the treetop that nearly reached to the ceiling with a homemade star. The star was fashioned from colored thread and cereal box cardboard. My husband’s aptitude for mathematics afforded him the ability to design a string-art pattern to create the Christmas star. That little star graced the top of our tree for many Christmases.
When we left the apartment in the Chicago area for the farm in southeastern Minnesota we still used fresh-cut trees. However, on one after-Christmas clean-up session my vacuum cleaner got all plugged up with the dried needles. So we began to consider the merits of the artificial Christmas tree.
The time came when children joined our little family. Eyes would grow big and little hands might itch to reach out and touch all the beauty that was dangling at our child’s fingertips. In an effort to preserve the decorations from our little one’s touch, we decided to set our tree on an out-of-reach place… the dining room table. My husband decided to make a small tree in his woodshop.
The tree was made completely of wood. The branches had no needles. It was not even green. But did it ever come to life when we started to hang strings of lights and tinsel garlands on it! The growing collection of ornaments made it eye-catching and added to its beauty.
A few years later my parents gifted us with a brand new artificial Christmas tree. It has served us well for many years. Some boughs have aged enough that they have lost many of its artificial needles. Yet with decorations galore, it still honorably commemorates this wonderful time of year. It heralds the birth of our Savior, the light that came into our world to bring eternal salvation to mankind.
You might have noticed lights are a central part of the Christmas tree. It could be as the Holy Bible states about Jesus, “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” And consider all of the ornaments and tinsel garlands reflecting the lights on the tree. Could that be illustrative of you and me reflecting the true light in our world?
It is time to put away the tree, but let us not put away reflecting the True Light to the dear people in our world.
Coconut Joys
½ cup of butter or margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
3 cups shredded coconut (8 oz.)
2 – 2 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
Melt butter in a sauce pan. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and coconut. Mix well. Shape rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls. Make a well with your finger in the center of each ball and place on a cookie sheet. Fill the centers with melted chocolate. Chill until firm.
Store in the refrigerator. Makes 3 dozen.
Note: To save time, try patting the coconut mixture in an 8×8 inch pan and drizzle it with the chocolate, chill and cut into small squares.
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