{"id":3424,"date":"2014-12-09T22:34:14","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T03:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/?p=3424"},"modified":"2014-12-09T22:38:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-10T03:38:12","slug":"the-most-beautiful-of-christmas-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/12\/the-most-beautiful-of-christmas-trees.html","title":{"rendered":"The Most Beautiful of Christmas Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This morning, my sons (ages 7 and 13) came to me and asked for permission to decorate the house for Christmas by themselves. It\u2019s a few days early for us, we usually put up the tree on Gaudete Sunday, but I looked at those eager hopeful faces and couldn\u2019t say no.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Within a half hour, they\u2019d dragged the boxes into the front room and begun digging through them.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0947[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They moved the furniture around and began with the tree.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0949[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They caught me taking pictures and shooed me from the room saying, \u201cWe want you to be surprised!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I hung out in the kitchen, mixing sugar cookies, reading a book, and fighting off the urge to peek.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

An hour or so later, the 13-year-old asked, \u201cIs it okay if we change things? Like\u2026can we pull them apart and redo them?\u201d My inner control freak said no, but I don\u2019t like her, so I said yes instead. He grabbed the wire cutters, scissors, and my cordless glue gun and practically skipped from the room exclaiming, \u201cShe said \u2018Yes!'\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I got ready to leave for the gym this evening, I was under strict instructions to cover my eyes. \u201cThis is our Christmas present for you, Mom. No peeking!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I came home to a decorated house.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The elder boy had poured his heart and creativity into the mantle, gathering pictures, knick-knacks, and a string of lights from elsewhere in the house. He clearly had a vision of how our house should look once it was properly dressed.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0950[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

His 10-year-old sister crafted a wreath to hang over the mirror in our front hall.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0951[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then there was the tree \u2014 lopsided, half-decorated, not-completely covered with lights tree. A tree surrounded by bouncing ecstatic little boys.<\/p>\n

The 13-year-old had\u00a0 put his younger brothers completely in charge of the tree once he\u2019d\u00a0 assembled it and strung the lights. They\u2019d placed the ornaments where they wanted, and left off the boring ones that \u201cdon\u2019t belong on a fun tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0952[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Their eyes sparkled as they pointed out that\u00a0 all of my \u201cfavorite ornaments\u201d were right up front. They\u2019d made a point of showcasing the ones I\u2019d made in my own childhood as well as the ones that they and their siblings had made for me. They\u2019d put it together with me in mind. There was no way to describe that imperfect tree than as a gift of perfect love. I don\u2019t know that I\u2019ve ever seen one that was more lovely.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tonight, as I\u2019m curled up in the chair beside the most beautiful Christmas tree ever, I am amazed at how perfectly they have chosen a gift for their mother. They gave me a gift of their own time and creativity, and thought long and hard about how to make it beautiful. Then, as if that\u2019s not already enough, my son handed me my phone with the pictures already taken. All that was left for me to do was sit here and enjoy it all, and know how well and truly I am loved.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning, my sons (ages 7 and 13) came to me and asked for permission to decorate the house for Christmas by themselves. It\u2019s a few days early for us, we usually put up the tree on Gaudete Sunday, but I looked at those eager hopeful faces and couldn\u2019t say no. \u00a0 Within a half […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43,42,8,9],"class_list":["post-3424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas","tag-family","tag-life-lessons","tag-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Most Beautiful of Christmas Trees<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This morning, my sons (ages 7 and 13) came to me and asked for permission to decorate the house for Christmas by themselves. 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