A Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

When I was little, our family went all out for Christmas. I can remember my Grandmother, Mom, and Aunt's baking and decorating their hearts out. I remember the family get togethers and the big Christmas Eve dinner. Grandma's house always smelled of gingerbread and cinnamon. As much as I treasure those memories, there is one very different from these Christmases that stands out above the rest.

It was a very difficult time. One of the hardest we had ever gone through. My Mom moved us around a lot and this time, it was not a wise decision. We had moved to a small town in Oregon where there just wasn't any work for either my Mother or her boyfriend at the time. Mom had managed to pick up a part time job at a local bar but it was not enough to pay for rent, bills, food and the needs of our family.

We lived in a 2 bedroom duplex. My Mom, her boyfriend, me, my 2 brothers, my sister and our cat. The four of us kids shared one bedroom. Christmas time was upon us and it was looking very grim. If it had not been for our family we would not have had a Christmas at all. They sent us a big box of Christmas gifts. Somehow, a local church learned of our situation and one morning there was a box of food containing our Christmas dinner and four Christmas stockings. Even though we weren't serving God back then, He still chose to take care of us and bless us in this way.

My Mom and her boyfriend were determined that we were going to have a Christmas tree. (disclaimer: this next part is illegal and I in no way am suggesting that anyone should do this however, what happened has made a memory for me that I will always cherish) They had seen the perfect one only it happened to be on the side of a major highway. Mom decided that they would go cut it down after dark. They successfully completed their midnight Christmas tree raid. The look on their faces when they brought their tree into the house was absolutely priceless. The tree was perfect alright. A perfect "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree".

I think my Mom was the first one to recover because I remember her starting to laugh. They put the sad little tree in a tree stand but quickly discovered that the tree would need to be braced in order to hold any lights or ornaments. There wasn't enough tree to hold much let me tell you. But we had such a good time. I remember the laughter and fun we had even though we had to hold the tree up with wire and thumb tacks. Our little tree was beautiful to us. That Christmas was low on pomp and circumstance but oh, how I cherish the memory of that simple Christmas.

I found a little set of ornaments several years ago made by Hallmark of a snow scene with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and Woodstock and in the middle was the famous "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree". It is my favorite thing to unpack and display every Christmas as I remember that little tree. Ever since I have become a mom I have strived to give my children a memorable, simple but special Christmas. I hope that they will have many wonderful Christmas memories to cherish as I have had. Thank YOU Lord for your provision that Christmas so long ago and for your continued provision in my families lives today. AMEN.