Before and After: The Eclectic Christmas Tree

A couple of days ago I showed you this lovely Sandhills-grown cedar tree. It has now been fully adorned.


With festive music of the season for our background, Judy and I systematically wrapped 300 bulbs and 30 feet of garland around our beautiful 8 and a half foot tree. It is truly an eclectic tree, with a varied assortment of ornaments, many of which have stories behind them. We have no over-riding theme-- we just select the decorations that strike our fancy or mood at the moment.

Judy especially loves angels, and we chose this lovely lady from three candidates that have topped our tree from time to time.

I love pewter, and several years ago used a gift card from my principal, Miss Nora McNeill, to purchase a beautiful set of nine pewter ornaments, each depicting something from Clement Moore's classic poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ('Twas the Night Before Christmas). Each has a portion of the poem on the reverse side.

Many of my favorite ornaments were received from students. Here is St. Nick in his hand-tailored Carolina Blue attire (Alexander Julian, I'm sure).
We also spent part of the day assisting Thelma, Judy's mom, with her Christmas decorating. Amanda joined us for soup and sandwiches, and a good time was had by all. In my opinion.

Speaking of food, other than decorating, attending Christmas dinners has been prominent in our schedule of late. Monday night 50 of us enjoyed Beulah Hill's Men's Class dinner at Golden Corral. The previous Saturday, Grace Church of Southern Pines hosted a prime rib dinner for all church volunteers (that would be Judy). The food was excellent, and the entertainment was stellar, with Kevin Baker morphing from praise and worship leader into Buddy Holly. Kevin is immensely talented and infectiously funny and enthusiastic.

Going all the way back to last Thursday, we kicked off our holiday festivities with a delightful evening at Sandhills Teen Challenge. We have known Sal and Debby DiBianca almost as long as they've been in the Sandhills. Their Christian drug rehab program has been in Moore County 22 years, and the national program just turned 50! It was initiated by Nicky Cruz, of "The Cross and the Switchblade" renown.

Everything from the food, to seeing old friends, to moving testimonies, to the rocking singing of the Teen Challenge Choir made for a grand holiday kickoff. Visit their national website or our local Teen Challenge website to find out more information or how you could offer assistance.

As you can see, we've already had several highlights, and we have many more on our calendar. I'll keep you up-to-date. And I hope each of you has a meaningful, encouraging, and inspirational Christmas season as we focus on the birth of our Savior and what He means to us as His unique creations.