No Tree…

I love the tradition of a Christmas tree… not just having one proudly displayed in our living room but finding just the right one to take its place in our Christmas celebration each year. For the Bells, that right tree begins with an adventure as the family trapses across the Christmas tree farm to find the biggest tree possible. While most would measure the height of a tree, we measure the breadth… the fatter the better. That ‘fat’ tree must have soft, perfectly green needles… strong branches to hold our heaviest ornaments… and thick foliage so that the trunk cannot be seen. Needless to say, our search for the perfect tree requires many steps and much discussion. Once selected, our youngest son shimmies under the tree with saw in hand to do the deed. He has earned that short straw by virtue of age and strength. The rest of us are glad to cheer him on from a standing position. Once felled, with our traditional call of “Timber”, the men carry the tree and tie it to the car, while we ladies make our way to the barn to purchase some home-made treats. Then we all enjoy a celebratory hot chocolate before everyone drives off to their next Christmas plans.

But this year there was no tree adventure, because there could be no tree. We came to the unhappy conclusion that there could be no live tree this year, because one has to be home to water the tree…and we will not be home this year. We considered the possibility of a fake tree, but quickly dismissed that offensive idea. No tree is better than plastic! So, we have a home with no tree in the corner, because on Christmas Day we will be flying across the country. Yes, you read that line right… we will be at the airport on Christmas Day, leaving behind the rest of our household, and all our East Coast family, to fly to what our son calls the ‘wrong coast’. We are going to CA for Christmas this year to honor the years that our daughter has driven, trained and flown to come home for Christmas. This year, we will join her in her new home, to share her traditions and enjoy the lights of her tree. We would go earlier, but for some reason, my rather demanding employers (all 400+) insist that I work on Christmas Eve. So, we will wait until Christmas day to fly. I never thought I would be one of those people in the airport on Christmas Day. I have no idea what that will be like. Perhaps there is a Tuesday letter in this new experience. But for now, I am just focused on what is at the end of the journey, and the new traditions that we will form with our daughter and her husband in their new home.

In the light of traditions old and new, I have a few for your consideration:

1. Movies… what would Christmas be like without some of our favorite Christmas movies? Brandon, the newest addition to our LVC staff, has been introducing his 4-year-old daughter to some of the kid classics like Charlie Brown’s Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (which version is the best?). We all have our favorite Christmas movie. But if you would like to add a new one to your list, the one I recommend will require a trip to the movie theater. I know many of us just wait for the movie to come on our streaming services… but this one is worth the trip. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is the story of how a family of ruffians transforms a church’s Christmas pageant into a miraculous experience of what Christmas is really all about.
2. O Tannenbaum… This year is the 200th anniversary of the classic Christmas carol- O Christmas Tree. As a child of proud German Americans, I remember my dad singing that Christmas song to celebrate the ever-green nature of the noble Christmas tree. “O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter.” O Christmas Tree, how lovely are your branches. Perhaps you will want to add that song to your celebrations this year. 
3. Christmas Lights… I love to drive around searching for the most outlandish, helpinghands-at-home Christmas displays. How fun to see Rudolph and Frosty welcomed into the blow-up manger scene- a reminder that all are welcome at the birth of the Savior.
4. Christmas foods… We all have our favorites… some passed down for generations. The other day the Inquirer suggested a few foods we might want to adopt from other cultures to add to our traditional Christmas fare this year. Kaviak caught my attention. This Christmas delicacy is prepared in the Artic regions… particularly in Greenland. There they stuff up to 500 whole Auks (small seabirds) into the hollowed-out body of a seal, which is then sewn shut, coated with grease and buried under a pile of rocks to ferment for several months. When time comes for the Christmas feast, the seal is dug up, and the fermented birds are eaten raw- feathers, beaks, feet and all. Yum!!!  
5. Christmas music… Sunday, our LVC musicians raised the roof with joy! Many thanks to all those who helped to create the Christmas Concert this year. Additional thanks to our Youth and Fellowship teams who created the Pasta Dinner giving us Dinner-and-a-Show on Sunday night. Three generations took to the stage… brass and bells, instrument and voice, traditional and contemporary. If you missed the show, check the website lenapevalleychurch.org tomorrow and click the link for the concert. Then share that link with a friend. Joy to the World.
6. One more tradition… Christmas Eve… Whether you like the ‘holy chaos’ of the Family service at 5pm or the peaceful beauty of the Classic service at 7:30pm… that tradition is best shared, so invite someone you love to meet Jesus this year at LVC!

With you celebrating Jesus,
Anita