This morning came with a very rude awakening. I walked downstairs to find our 9-foot tall Christmas tree lying across my family room floor...hardwood floor. Scattered all about were what seemed to be millions of tiny glass shards from all the broken ornaments. Fortunately, my brother-in-law was there to lift the tree back into its stand, while my daughter and I surveyed the mess.
Within seconds my heart began to sink as I discovered ornament after treasured ornament that couldn't be repaired or replaced. There was our Pecious Moments bride and groom ornament from the first Christmas we were married, there were "baby's first Christmas ornaments," a favorite Georgia Bulldog ornament (go Dawgs!), some of the hearts that I have given Joey each Christmas Eve, and a beautiful Lenox china angel that a very special lady gave me when I celebrated my first Christmas in my own apartment years ago. Also among the casualties were precious ornaments my children had made, as well as others that were given to us as gifts.
Once I began sweeping up the mess and throwing away the pieces, I couldn't hold back the tears. Every year I love pulling out the Christmas ornaments and recalling the special people and memories that so many of them bring to mind. It broke my heart to see so many of them going in the trash.
As I swept (and wept), I remembered a verse from the Christmas story that I have thought about many times the last couple of weeks. It's Luke 2:19, "But Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart."
I realized that God was using that verse to remind me that life is all about relationships, relationships with him and with other people, not about things. When Jesus was born in a Bethlehem stable, there were no cameras to capture the moment. When the sheperds arrived to worship and share what the angels had told them, there was no one making a video for posterity. So Mary stored it all in her memory and in her heart, where they would be safe forever.
The broken ornaments were simply things that I treasured because they reminded me of special people, but it is the people themselves who are important. As we count down the last couple of hours to the New Year, I resolve to do more memory-making with the people I love. I want to build strong, lasting, loving relationships to treasure, both with my family and friends, and with my God. How wonderful that I get to ring in this New Year with my husband and children, my sister, my brother-in-law and my nephew. I am truly blessed! Happy New Year!
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