Christmas Trees in February
by
Michelle Hill
- 5:51 AM
I heard a sermon the other day by Francis Chan. In the sermon he was talking about how when he was in high school his youth pastor told him to start a prayer journal, on each page to write out his prayer and then on the back of the page to write Gods answer to that prayer so when he looked back on this journal later in life he would be reminded of the faithfulness of God, because let's be real, sometimes in life we forget about the times that God has been faithful. This whole thing spoke to me. You see I have a prayer journal that I write in almost every day when Theo takes his afternoon nap. I fill it with everything, requests, my fears, just letting my heart out, it's my way of communicating with God my heart, but I never thought to leave room for Gods answers. Each next page is just filled with the next day's prayer.
When I read back, something's I'll remember, "Oh yeah, God answered that" but I don't remember it with the clarity I would have, had I written it down.
I say all that because I want to remember when God has been faithful to my prayers, big and small and what I'm about to say next is something I want to remember forever and I wanted to share just how good God really is.
But this tree was something really special to me. Not because I love Christmas, although I do, and not because it was Theo's very first Christmas tree, but because this tree reminded me of just how much God loves me, and not just for the reason of Christmas itself.
In the beginning of December Tim and I were going over our budget for the week and I realized there wasn't enough money to get the tree that week. ( we're on a mission to get out of debt so money has been tight) It was a petty thing but I wanted Theo's first Christmas to be amazing, not just because it was his first Christmas but also because we never got to have a first Christmas with Noah and I wanted Theo's to be amazing! So to not have a tree all December just made me sad and disappointed. Like I said it was petty and not a big deal, and maybe a little bit bratty but that's just how I felt.
In all of this I never thought to pray for a tree, it never crossed my mind. It was just a petty little desire and we'd just get one later when we had the money.
But a couple days later Tim called me from work and said someone was giving away a tree and asked me if I wanted it. "Uh, Yes!" He said, "babe, this is a big tree." I like big trees!
Someone was going to give it to the fisheries for Christmas decoration but they were doing construction and didn't have room for a tree, so Tim said we'll take it if they were giving it away, the guy said, " Yeah, you just have to come pick it up"
That night Tim drove out into the middle of no where to get this tree and bring it home and the moment I saw it I knew it was from God. It was his gift to me. It was his way of telling me he knows my heart. Because you see this tree was not just big, this tree was MASSIVE. Seriously, when Tim put it up, with the help from our brother in law, I literally said, "Ok God, now you're just showing off" This tree was over 9 foot tall and 6 foot wide! It was beautiful!
After cutting a good chunk off the bottom the tree was still so tall that the top of it bent at our ceiling, and we have really tall ceilings! Tim asked me if I wanted him to cut off some more so I could put a star on the top but I said no. Because even at the top this tree showed me how much God loves me, how much he knows my heart, that He doesn't do things in small measure, he blows through the ceiling with his blessings, and that he cares even about the petty little desires of my heart, because he loves me!
In the end Theo's first Christmas was amazing, but years from now I don't think I'll remember the gifts or the decorations or Theo's reactions to it all. I'll remember the tree and how faithful my God is and that His love for me is so big it can't be contained.
