Barry and I were early in buying our Christmas tree this year. We went out and purchased it on the day after Thanksgiving. Usually, we don’t get it until the first or second weekend of December. It was raining the night we bought it and wanted to dry before decorating it. We decided to put off decorating until the following evening. Well, I probably don’t have to tell you what happened next. Every night we found ourselves coming up with excuses for not decorating the tree: we’re tired, we’re hungry, we’ve had a long day, etc.
We just weren’t quite ready.
Yoav, my two year old neighbor had other plans for us. I had been telling him about our tree for weeks. On the day after it arrived, I told him I would put lights and ornaments on it. Every afternoon he arrived home, he motioned for his mom to lift him over the fence so he could see our beautiful Christmas tree lights. But, there were no lights, just an empty tree.
I got a knock on the door one afternoon. It was Yoav and his mother. She told me about how he wanted to look at the tree every day and see it’s lights. I said, “Yes, we just haven’t gotten around to it” Yoav on the other hand, wasn’t having my excuses. He walked in the door and headed for the box I had shown him earlier in the week. He began to drag the lights across my floor and over to the tree.
It was time to put lights on the tree.
I love Christmas trees. I love ornaments, especially those with special meaning. But what do I really, really love? Christmas tree lights. I love the glow they give off and how they light up your house in the darkness.
That afternoon, I began my own preparation for this season. I taught his mother how to string Christmas lights on a tree while Yoav watched. As I plugged all the lights in and saw his face light up, the love for this season was awakened in me once again.
“…What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Waking Up Somewhere Else 