The Christmas Column

   C decided that we had to have a tree. I wanted to forgo the tree. It isn't a necessity and we need to be strict about our budget. C insisted. He told me that he was going to find a tree. I told him that there weren't going to be any trees at the price he wanted and that stock was likely to be picked over. Only scraggly trees would be left. He went out. I continued with the tasks for the day.
  45 minutes later he called. He had a tree. It was a nice one and it was the price that he wanted to pay. It seemed that one of the local stores wanted to get rid of their stock and were selling trees for half off.
  When he got home I helped him take the tree out of the trunk. It was a nice tree a little over five feet tall. It was perfect for us. Since it was so late, we decided to leave it outside and bring it in and decorate it after church.
   On Sunday afternoon, C found our tree stand. We put the tree in the stand. It took some adjusting but we got it straight. Then there was the search for ornaments and lights. There were several strings that didn't work. C put them aside. We found a string that worked and put it on the tree. It was nice, but we both wanted more. We found another long string. Would it work? C plugged it in. Yes, it did work. We carefully wound the string around the tree. It looked lovely.
  C brought up boxes of ornaments. I wanted to put up my collection of Barbie ornaments. C said no. I contented myself with colorful balls and a few ornaments that I had collected over the years. I found the spider I made in German class. I found C's Superman ornaments. I found a ballet dancer that I had bought once. There was the handmade glass poinsettia that I bought from someplace. We put bells and nonbreakable things on the bottom for the cats to enjoy.
  Since we has the tree up we could put of other things. C found a wreath and put it in the kitchen. He brought up his collection of animated snowmen. They have a button you push and the figures move around and sing. We moved our statue of Santa kneeling by the manger to the coffee table where it could be seen. I brought up a snow globe with an angel inside. Some of the liquid in the snow globe is gone, but it is still pretty.
  I also brought out my menorah. I had seen it in a catalog. I thought it was an artistic looking candelabra. It has a silhouette of a man standing behind a woman. In their hands is a spot for a candle. Before them was eight little candle holders. I didn't realize what it was until it arrived, When I was single I displayed it because it is a work of art. Lately I had put it away thinking that displaying it would be offensive. This year I got it out. I put it where it couldn't be seen from the window. To me it is a symbol of the light that the Lord bring into the world that can be shared with others. It is a reminder to me that God can take our small efforts and magnify them.
  This is the first year I found myself actually enjoying Christmas. When I was working full time I was often working during the busy month of December. The first year I worked part time, I was worried about our finances. Last year I was recovering from surgery.
  This year is different. I'm healthier than I've been in a long time. I've spent the month trying to focus more on the spiritual aspect of the season. I've had time to do some things that I enjoy. Even though I did not get any cards sent and I didn't bake anywhere near the amount of Christmas treats I would have liked, it's all right. I have all I need. I have C and our cats. everyone we care about is doing all right. I feel at peace.....

Merry Christmas🎄

from Sophie, C,Scamp and Colby

👩🏻👨🏻🐱😺