I love Christmas. I’ve always loved Christmas. One of my favourite things about this time of year is putting up the Christmas tree. My kids are both now in their 30’s but every year I still hang the macaroni ornaments they made in Primary School.
James and I had our first Christmas as a married couple in 2012. It was his ex-wife’s year to have their children, so we were celebrating with just the two of us. When it came time to put up the tree, we realised that having just combined two households, we now had two Christmas trees and that meant we had to make a decision…. His… Or mine… We couldn’t decide… so we did both. His tree was new as he had been left without one, mine was the one I had had for many years. They were both significant in their own way.
It wasn’t until people started commenting on our two trees that I realised we had done something quite different. And I liked it. So, the next year when it came time to put up the tree, up they both went, and our annual tradition of two trees was born. A few years later when we decided to buy a new tree that was “ours”, I couldn’t let go of our tradition, so we bought two new trees!
Why is this a thing?
Well, for one, it was part of our ‘new beginning’. This is something that is unique to us. It is a symbol of our beautiful love story. It is part of our “Beauty from Ashes” Isaiah 61:3 “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for His own glory” … I love this version that says, ‘festive praise instead of despair’. Our first respective Christmas’s in 2010 were heartbreakingly lonely and full of despair. There was no ‘festive praise’ that year. We were both still relatively newly separated from our previous spouses, and still reeling from the shock of betrayal that we had both suffered. We didn’t know then what we know now…. That God already had a plan for us…. That we would together one day become the ‘great oaks that the Lord has planted for His own glory’. That our mourning would one day be over, and the blessing would come.
And, two, it is a great story to tell! I love it when people come into our home and ask why we have two trees. I love sharing our story of redemption and restoration.
Our two trees are a beautiful reminder of our faithfulness to God and of His faithfulness to us, and every year when I put them up, I can’t help but be thankful for His goodness in our lives. Our two Christmas trees are a symbol that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
