Christmas Decorations

When I was a little girl I loved putting up our family Christmas tree. I eagerly looked forward to the first Saturday in December when we would go to choose a tree at a nearby tree lot. It was always fun trying to find the “perfect” tree and then decorating it together as a family at home.

Our Christmas tree decorations were a mixed group of round, glass ornaments along with various collectables. My mom and dad would have to compromise on the lights (dad wanted blue while mom preferred white). I recently found out that some of our ornaments had belonged to my dad when he was little. One of my favorite Christmas ornaments was a little “candy man” - a creature made from yarn with a Styrofoam ball for a head. But the most fascinating part of the candy man was his body which consisted of an entire roll of life-savers candy. A whole roll of life-savers - how extravagant!! As a little girl I thought the candy man was so cool and always begged to open the roll of candy, but he remained intact all throughout my childhood.



Because I am deeply (overly?) sentimental and can’t bear to part with anything, when my parents were updating their Christmas decorations a number of years ago, I confiscated a number of their old ones rather than see them thrown out. Of course I can’t put them on my own tree; after all, they are pretty cheap and tacky looking. So they sit in a bag in the basement amongst my other Christmas stuff.



As I was digging through all my Christmas boxes last week, I discovered the bag of old ornaments. And inside was my candy man! As I held the candy man, I remembered the excitement of my childhood and the anticipation of each Christmas. I also again resisted the temptation to open the roll of life-savers (now almost 50 years old!).

Now I have a store-bought, pre-lit tree (what a wonderful invention). The ornaments on my tree are also varied - gifts from past students as well as children I babysat long ago, ornaments purchased from special places, a mixture of religious and “just for fun,” along with a handcrafted tree-topper angel. I still enjoy decorating the tree and reminiscing as I hang the ornaments. There’s something peaceful about sitting near the tree on a dark winter evening with only the tree lights sparkling in the night.



I love the wonderful memories of my childhood Christmas trees. And I’m thankful for the tacky ornaments of my childhood; they remind me that life doesn’t usually look beautiful and all put-together. The importance of family and times spent together are what I see when I look at the old ornaments. They also remind me that Jesus came to a world that wasn’t all put-together; it was pretty tacky and tawdry. That’s why He came. To make things right. To redecorate our lives.

I still love my candy man. With his yarn and styrofoam and old candy, he points me to my true Life Savior.