Our Family's Christmas

In our home, we celebrate Christmas. I love the holiday, filled with cinnamon scents and egg nog flavors. Beautiful trees, all lit up. I love Santa, or at least Saint Nicholas, with his inspirational love of all humanity, I love, love, love Christmas. Stockings hanging happily on a mantle, stuffed with toys and nick-knacks and candies. Gifts piled under pine, beautifully wrapped in silvers and greens and reds. 

I love Christmas music. Caroling, or even listening to well beloved songs playing on the radio. Jingle bells, indeed. I love snuggling up with a hot mug of cocoa with marshmallows, while my feet are tucked away in warm fuzzy socks. I love being inside my cozy shoe-box home, and looking outside at snow covered hills and streets and being so happy that I have no reason what-so-ever to leave the comfort and warmth.

My husband is a scrooge. He doesn't believe in Santa, and thinks that we shouldn't tell the children lies... and Santa is a lie.

Sigh.

I fought this, I really did. Santa is an important part of Christmas for children, a part of Christmas that I never experienced during my youth. I have always wanted my children to have Santa... at least while they are little.

But as I was thinking about Christmas, I remembered the part of Christmas that I loved the most in what we did celebrate as I grew. I loved caroling and passing out plates of treats to neighbors. I loved the stories. The story of Nativity. The story of the candy maker and the legend of his Candy Cane. The story of the three trees. And there I paused, and I began to think about the story of the trees. Selah, indeed.

This is the spirit of giving I want to pass on to my children. I want them to know that even if they don't become all they want to be, their gift to their creator is to be exactly who HE wants them to be. I want them to know that in the tapestry of life, there is a plan for the thread that forms who they are. That thread is part of something beautiful.

And so, I gifted my husband by agreeing to follow when it comes to Christmas and Santa.

In closing, I am attaching the story of the Three Trees. This story, interlaced with Nativity, is what we will teach our children each year at Christmas. This story, I hope, touches you as it does me.

-Lydia Serafino-

'The Tale of Three Trees'

Three little trees stood high upon a mountain discussing their dreams for the future. The first little tree looked up at the dazzling night sky and said, "I want to carry the treasure of kings and queens. I want to be beautiful. I want to be filled with all the riches in the world."

The nearby stream caught the second little tree's eye. "I want to be a mighty sailing vessel," he said. "I want to sail in the roaring oceans, roam the high seas, and deliver kings and queens safely to their destinations."

The third little tree loved the mountaintop. "I want to stay right here and grow and grow and grow," she said. "I want the people that pass by to look at me touching heaven and think of God."

One day, many years later, three lumberjacks came to help the three trees with the next season of their lives.

The first tree, now beautiful, was cut down. "I will become the most beautiful treasure chest," he thought. "I will get to hold all of the world's riches."

The mighty second tree was cut down. "I will now sail the roaring oceans," thought the second tree. "I will be the mightiest of all sailing vessels."

The third tree, with her branches stretched toward heaven, was also cut down. Together with the other two trees, she was taken down the lovely hillside.

The first tree arrived at a carpenter's shop. The beautiful tree was aglow with excitement. But he wasn't made into a treasure chest. The skillful carpenter made the beautiful tree into an ordinary feeding trough.

The second tree was brought to a shipyard. The mighty second tree thought, "Now I will be the most vigorous of vessels." But the strong second tree was made into a simple little fishing boat.

The third tree was brought to a lumberyard. There she was made into beams and put aside. "Why did this happen?" thought the third tree. "All I ever wanted was to touch heaven."

As the weeks passed, their dreams began to fade from memory. However, one magical night brought the first tree's dream to life. A young mother put her newborn into the trough. "This manger is perfect," said the mother to her husband. And the first tree knew he was cradling the most important treasure ever.

One night the fishing boat was used by a tired traveler and his friends. They quickly fell asleep, and the small boat floated out to sea. The sea became rough, and a thunderstorm was brewing. This frightened the second tree. If only he were a mighty vessel and could withstand the force of the storm! The traveler was awakened by the storm, and he stretched out his arms and said, "Peace." The sea became calm and the thunderstorm vanished. It was then that the second tree realized he was carrying the Almighty King.

On a Friday morning, the third tree was taken by soldiers and carried through a hostile mob. She trembled with fear and distaste as a man's hands were nailed to her. But the following Sunday the sun rose. The earth was full of joy. She realized that everything had changed because of God's love.

The first tree was made beautiful.

The second tree was made mighty.

The third tree made people think of God.