Actually, I spent time in the word this morning studying Psalm 127 (for my "homework" in Stepping Up, Beth Moore's study on the Psalms of Ascent). Meditating on the 1st verse:
"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain."
and verse 3:
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord . . ."
started me thinking about some of my Christmas ornaments."Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord . . ."
I'll have to confess from the outset that I LOVE Christmas and everything that goes along with it. I sort of go a little beserk when it comes to decorating for Christmas. And it seems to "grow" every year. This past year I put up eight trees in our little 2,000 square foot house. Yep, it's overkill for sure. But I love it. And my family loves that I love it. One of my teenage granddaughters wrote on her facebook wall this year that her Gran was the "Queen of Christmas"! Too funny.
The tree at left is my favorite and I think it is for most of my family as well . As long as I put up this tree, Christmas at our house is complete. We call this one "Families Are Forever". Here's why:
Several years ago I began framing Christmas photos of our family members and making them into ornaments. I add to it every year (pictures from the Christmas before) and there are now over 200 photo ornaments on this tree. There are only four Christmases from the 43 that Roy and I have spent together for which I have no pictures. Just decorating this tree evokes many wonderful memories and, sometimes, some sentimental tears.
At the top of this photo you can see an old black & white photo of my very first Christmas - baby Beverly in 1945!
The heart shaped cross-stitched ornament of the kissing couple has 1964, the year we were married, stitched on the front. The back of the ornament has our names and the words, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." That's our marital promise to one another but FAR more important, it's GOD's promise to us as individuals, to us as a couple, and to our family . . . (and to YOU and your family!) How blessed are we to have a Heavenly Father who loves us with an everlasting love and promises to NEVER leave us nor forsake us!! Just to the left of the cross-stitched ornament hangs a framed picture of Roy and me in 1964 - our first Christmas as husband and wife.
I cross-stitched Ps. 127:3 as a little banner that you can see in the photo at right. Everytime I hang it I pray that my children will always know that I consider them my greatest blessings from the Lord and the sweetest portion of His heritage to me.
I stitched an ornament with each of our children's names and birthdates and the words "God Gave Us" ... Close by I try to hang a photo of their first Christmas. Above the ornament you see with Lisa's name, hangs a picture of her in her daddy's arms as we prepared to leave the hospital and take her home with us that Christmas Eve 1971.
All eight grandchildren have a smaller cross- stitched ornament that bears their name and birthdate and the words "A Gift of God." At left is the one belonging to our oldest grandchild, Mallory, and to the right of it, a picture of her first Christmas, 1989, when she was 7 months old. Hanging each of these ornaments on the tree each year is a special opportunity to pray for that grandchild and ask God's blessing over their lives in the coming year.
You can see grandson, Hamp's, ornament in the picture at right. Beneath it is a picture of him at 2 weeks old in his Grandaddy's arms with Gran and his sister, Hillary, beside him.
The red framed photo of the two children on bicycles is of our children, John and Lisa, in 1974 when they were 3 and 4. Below it in the green frame is Lisa's daughter, Hillary, when she was two. The grandchildren have such fun seeing how much they looked like their parents at the same ages!
Our children and grandchildren all enjoy looking at the photos of how they've changed over the years so I always try to group some close by for comparison. At right is our daughter, Lisa. In the red frame she is shown on her 2nd birthday. In the green frame, Dec. 18, 1996, her 25th birthday.
Our children and grandchildren all enjoy looking at the photos of how they've changed over the years so I always try to group some close by for comparison. At right is our daughter, Lisa. In the red frame she is shown on her 2nd birthday. In the green frame, Dec. 18, 1996, her 25th birthday.
Besides the children born to you and the grandchildren they bless you with, God enlarges our families and enriches our lives with our sons and daughters-in-law. I cross stitched name ornaments for each "in-law" child with the date they came into our family. Son-in-law, Dennis', ornament is shown at left and reads: "On May 17, 1986 Lori married DENNIS and God Blessed Us with a Son-In-Law."
I'm so grateful that part of our heritage - part of our reward - from the Lord is in and through our FAMILY. Mine is a treasure to me for which I am eternally grateful.
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