The Christmas Trees God Gave Us

Around Christmas, there are many, many smells permeating the house. They come from the candles in the bathrooms and the scent pot in the kitchen. Though on days when the oven is on, cinnamon, nutmeg, peppermint, chocolate bring a whole new flavor......and set your taste buds watering. But there is one scent we do not have at Christmas. That is the scent of a freshly cut Christmas evergreen.

In my entire life, we have only had a real tree two times. But when Mom figured out that all of her headaches were from the fragrance of pine, the real tree idea was scrapped. So, while we don't have the annoyance of needles everywhere on the floor, we don't have that distinct spiciness...unless we have an evergreen scented candle burning.

You know what? I don't mind. What we do have in the form of our artificial Christmas tree means so much more to me.

From June of 2003 to July of 2005, my dad was unemployed. It is a long story--far too long to go into detail now. I will only say it was a time when we saw the Lord do amazing things for us. Sure, you see Him act all the time, but when you are in dire straits, it takes on a whole new meaning. One such way we saw the Lord was by His giving us our Christmas tree.

Now, lest I paint a terrible picture, I want you to know that we weren't destitute--we had money (though granted, we were living off of our previous home's equity.) Needless to say, when money is tight, the last thing you do is spend it on something frivolous like a tree that will die in a few weeks. By this time, the artificial tree that I had grown up with had "bitten the dust" and Mom's allergy had been discovered. So, we were at peace about not having a tree to place some presents under. After all, that doesn't matter anyway. But God had other ideas.

Some friends at the time sent us a check in the mail. That had been happening a lot. People were doing things anonymously for us--Garrett and I had even been on the receiving end with gift cards to Walmart. However, this particular check wasn't anonymous--and there was a purpose for it. They wanted us to buy a Christmas tree.

Now, they didn't know about Mom, but we decided to do exactly what they said. We bought a new artificial tree with their thoughtfulness towards us. Every year when we set it up, we are reminded of the trials we had during Dad's unemployment--and the provision and compassion of a Loving Father.

But it doesn't stop there. In my bedroom every Christmas, I am reminded of some unknown person's thoughtfulness. With that Walmart gift card, I bought a small artificial tree of my own for $2. I cannot thank the person who showed love towards me those years ago--I am not entirely positive who did it. But I can thank my Lord, who even cares about the little things, even Christmas trees.

The individuals God used to fufill his purposes have left our lives now. But what they did has not. And every Christmas, I get the opportunity to remember what my family went through. I wouldn't want to experience it again--but oh! The memories!

What has been one instance where you are reminded again and again of God's provision and caring nature?