This Christmas!

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Matthew 5:46

The art of picking a Christmas tree...I guess I never really appreciated the process until this year as I stood in the beyond freezing (for SoCal) night air and observed the countless people selecting their trees. As I moved the tree, which was two feet taller than I, up the line, I saw people with varying trees by their sides. It certainly spoke to each of these people, you could almost tell by their tree what kind of people they were, and what kind of lives they led. 

There were the middle aged men with average size trees. Young families collecting little trees for each kid. My dad and I giggled as the man, who appeared to be a surgeon, wheeled the biggest tree on the lot up to the cutting station and proceeded to recommend just where they should cut the trunk. You could certainly  tell each family had a dream for their tree and that this tree would become the focal point for their family Christmas. 

Well, my family was cold, and tired, and maybe slightly grumpy and getting us to agree on a tree was like pulling teeth. My dad quickly picked up the last one he had touched and made his way to pay. When we got home, it is safe to say we had picked the dorkiest tree on the lot. 

Besides the fact that the trunk was crooked, the branches sagged and barely held up our collection of ornaments. My mom thinks the tree is dying and we are wondering if the weird smell we have been sniffing may actually be the tree. But, despite everything, this little guy will be the center of my family's Christmas memories for the year. 

At first, I imagined how horrible the tree would look in our family pictures. I thought of how embarrassing it would be when our family and friends see how ugly our tree looked in the corner of our living room. I cringed at the display on Christmas morning with our sad and drooping tree in the midst of all our pretty presents. And then as I looked a little longer that crazy tree had something to say to me.

How easy, can I ask, is it for a family to put up the perfect tree? How simple is it for them to appreciate the way it smells or how pretty it looks with the little lights on each branch? How much effort does it take for them to see the Christmas spirit in that beauty? My guess is not that much. 

Our tree, is definitely unique, and may take more effort to appreciate but I think it speaks to what Christmas is all about so perfectly. To love the lovable, that is easy. To love those who it is more difficult to love, that is our call. That is the life of Jesus. And that is perhaps the most profound gift we can give and receive this Christmas. 

As you shop this Christmas and wrap pretty packages consider how much easier it is to give to the people you love. Of course it is fun to surprise my family and friends with thoughtful gifts. But what about that family member you cannot stand? Or the coworker that never even says thank you for the gift you give? Do you find yourself having "fun" preparing a gift for them? This Christmas, more than ever, I have been personally given the opportunity to give to those in need. I have been without a doubt blessed by this experience, but I will say it is a different feeling as I prepare to give. I will never know the sweet little girl I pick out gifts for and I will never see the reaction on her face as she opens each gift. I am just as eager to give, but I think it takes a conscious effort to consider what life might be like for her, what she may need, and that my gift to her will never be to her associated with me. 

We love the people God has given us to love so easily. You know the ones He places in our lives, on our doorsteps, in our faces? Those ones are the ones it is easy to love. Kind of like the perfect Christmas tree. But, what God is saying to me, is love more than just them. Maybe this Christmas is your chance to embrace a tree that is a little more difficult to love, not because they are less than, but just because they are a little bit outside of your daily world. 

God sent His son to earth to love us all. What a profound gift? What if, this Christmas you did just one little thing to love someone who maybe has no way to earn your love except for that they are too a child of God, and you have love to give?