Christmas Transformations

December 22, 2018

Christmas Transformations

There was a knock on our front door one quiet Sunday afternoon. It was most unusual! A friend from church who lives a few blocks away thought she’d stop in for a brief chat while walking around the neighborhood. Al and I were happy to have her drop by and sat down on the couch to visit.

During the conversation, she looked around the room and asked, “So are you doing something special for Christmas with all of these decorations?”

Her question surprised me. Decorating for Christmas is doing something special! I love getting out the homemade decorations and gifts from family and friends over many years. There are wall hangings, nativity sets, glass globes, red and green blankets, pillows, place mats, candles... It doesn’t take long for the house to look cheery and warm, with memories of loved ones everywhere.

Then there’s the Christmas tree. When we moved from CA, we gave away a lot of our things, even our artificial Christmas tree. But it was old, losing its needles and branches, and not worth moving all of the way across the country. A new one was purchased after we got settled in Michigan, one that came with lights already strung.

Hanging each ornament on the tree is always a joy for me. Some of them were given as wedding presents when Al and I were married in 1982. Several were made from hardened dough or plaster and then hand painted by children—grandsons, nieces and nephews. While Al and I were teaching, we received ornaments at Christmas from students and their families. The finished product is not fancy, color coordinated or themed; however, it is a very special, one of a kind memory tree.

Poinsettias, both fake and real, also are in abundance around the house. Although the poinsettia that Al bought last year lost its red bracts and many of its leaves after Christmas, it did survive and has grown into a healthy plant. After doing some research on how to prompt a poinsettia to turn from green to red, it is now on a strict regimen of 10 hours a day in the light and 14 hours a day in the closet! It should be red by February!

Getting back to my friend’s question, I vaguely answered, “Well, we’re having a birthday party for Jesus next week...” but didn’t go into my passion for decorating during this special time of the year.

After she left to continue her walk, we tackled the last project—hanging the outdoor lights. This wasn’t a big project like covering all of the tree trunks with netting or hanging icicles around the rooftop. It only involved finding the extension cords, getting out the ladder, the rake and the box of lights. The rake helped hoist the string of lights to tree branches that were out of our reach.

Once all of the necessary things were gathered from the garage and basement, it didn’t take long to wrap a couple of strings of colored lights around Al’s new “Baby Blue Eyes” Spruce in the backyard and a hang a few more on a medium sized tree and several shrubs in the front yard. With that the decorating was done and the transformation of the Lowery’s place complete! After dark, the twinkling lights coming from both yards and from the artificial tree in the living room reflected off windows and the glass table top in the dining room, looking very festive.

Just as I take delight in bringing about a transformation in our home, so the Lord takes great delight in bringing about a change for the better in our hearts and lives. Christmas reminds us of that! We know that He loves us and can say along with Mary, the mother of Jesus: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...” Luke 1:46b-47 NIV

Merry Christmas dear friends!

Christmas Transformations

The cold city street

all lit up at night...

The plain little house

now aglow and bright...

The green plastic tree

dressed in twinkling lights...

This lost, lonely heart

by the love of Christ...

transformed! (JLL 12/20/97)