Christmas is undoubtedly my favorite holiday that I began anticipating when I was a child and now as an adult, for different reasons. It has a different purpose for me now than as a child and as a believer in Christ, perhaps even more so. Besides the time to indulge in family honored timeless traditions, and celebrations, it gives more pause to me as I realize how quickly time passes away and often times there is a sense of loneliness and peace that can also follow.
As we raise our children, we teach them what our parents taught us or perhaps refrained from sharing based on unmet expectations so we can do them differently with a different outcome. For me, I loved Christmas because it meant bringing joy to a single mom who worked hard to provide not only for us in the way of basic needs but also to try her best to provide what filled our Christmas lists. It meant I could take on the burden to make her life a little bit brighter by cleaning and decorating the house, as a surprise from where she left it to change from one job to the next and head out the door. It was to say, Thank you! I appreciate all you do and I hope this at least brings a smile to your face. This is also what I have taken away from Damian Chandler's book, The Crooked Christmas Tree.
It conveys the story of one families goal to bring home a Christmas Tree and the real meaning behind the perfect "One" and the one their kids would subsequently choose. I felt myself cringe in my own perfectionism to understand this man's plight. To bring home something less than worthy to be set up on display in my house, despite the reason why the kids found true beauty in it. It conveys a parallel perspective that came one Christmas morning to give us the ultimate gift. One we tend to take for granted more days than not. Have you taken a peek at our earth lately? It's a mess. Yet despite that, God's name is still on the title.
David is not simply declaring God's royal reign over this earth. David is declaring that the earth and everything in it is still God's responsibility. Good and bad belong to Him. Its victories and even its failures. And He has no plans on distancing His name from it. Even as we destroy His masterpiece, God still commands that we celebrates His ownership and creative patent every week. Long forgotten, buried under more 'important' topics, is God's call for us to celebrate that He is still the titleholder. He still celebrates that we belong to Him. He celebrates me and reminds me, "My name is still on your title. You are my responsibility. My crooked tree."
I received The Crooked Christmas Tree by Damian Chandler compliments of Faith Words, a division of Hachette Book Groups. There is something powerful in this amazing little book. It is a reminder to us all about the world we live in, the people in it and how we need to be reminded of what God's purpose is in all of it, more than just once a year, but 365 days of the year. It is a reminder about holding on to the things that matter and letting go of the ones that don't. To spend the time with our family and friends who will pass away before we know it. To be in the moment instead of worrying about tomorrows. This will be a book I read at the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year in hopes of changing my perspectives to love the crooked trees more than the perfect ones! I easily give this a 5 out of 5 stars.
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