fake trees and real ladders

Christmas traditions make Christmas joyful and meaningful. We plan for them and embrace them with our whole heart. We get excited about them and they always turn out perfectly. Or maybe not.

Several years ago, a Christmas tradition almost ruined our marriage. Everybody loves a great Christmas tree. And each home has one that fits the family and personalities involved. Some have lots of glitter, some are elegant and gold, some have ornaments carefully created by little hands as each child grows. Our second Christmas, I wanted a real tree. I never had one growing up. However, a real tree needs water. That December, I worked 15 hour days and expected my husband Bryce to water the tree. He didn’t.

Bryce And Jody

You can see where this is going. After Christmas, we went to remove that lovely live tree - which was dead. Inches of pine needles fell to the carpet. I cried. We had been married 18 months and it had been a whirlwind of a year: college classes, gigs to help pay the bills, minimum wage 40 hours a week, and I was battling cancer. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Christmas traditions were to be joyful and celebrated for years, but this moment was terrible. I couldn’t even keep a tree alive! I got myself together and somehow we managed to take a “happy picture” so we could remember this moment. Despite the photo, that moment wasn’t happy, but it helped us realize if this marriage was going to last, we need to be at peace even in the small things.

As I mentioned earlier, Christmas traditions make Christmas joyful and meaningful, if and only if, you don’t try to wreck your family with them at any cost. We recognized two things that day. First, we would never agree on whether to have a live or fake tree and second, if we wanted our marriage to last another year, we had to solve that problem. So we did.

This Christmas and for the last 24 years, we put up our Christmas ladder. It’s wood, holds ornaments, and it came from a tree. And best of all, it’s our Christmas tradition. Twenty four years ago, we couldn’t agree on the type of tree to have, but we could agree that we wanted every Christmas after to be much more peaceful.

And that’s my hope for you this Christmas, that despite the busy holiday season, you find traditions you can carry on for years that bring you peace. And that you focus your attention on Jesus, the one who brings peace.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” - Isaiah 9:6

Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,

Jody