EVERYDAY ADVENTURES

The Great Christmas Tree Fiasco

I couldn’t wait to take my kids to pick out their first live Christmas tree. I grew up in a family that believed artificial trees were a sellout. Our philosophy was, if you want a fake, plastic Christmas, go get yourself a fake, plastic tree. If you want a real, authentic Christmas, however, you have to go chop down an evergreen. 

I knew someday when I had kids of my own, I would raise them right. Annual trips to the tree farm would be non-negotiable.

The only problem with my dreams of hunting for a real tree, though, was that I had real kids. In those early days we were doing our best to keep two children and a couple of cats alive. One more living thing in our house felt like too much responsibility.

So, even though my wife and I began our marriage with live trees, once the kids came along, everything changed. We went into pure survival mode, enjoying all the beautiful chaos of Christmas with infants, toddlers and preschoolers, but never once putting up a tree that didn’t come out of a box.

So, even though my wife and I began our marriage with live trees, once the kids came along, everything changed. We went into pure survival mode, enjoying all the beautiful chaos of Christmas with infants, toddlers and preschoolers, but never once putting up a tree that didn’t come out of a box.

I didn’t give up on the dream, though. I stubbornly held onto our old Christmas tree stand, thinking someday we’d come to our senses. Maybe once they were in elementary school, we’d have our act together.

That season, however, came and went, as did middle school, high school and college for our oldest. It wasn’t looking good. 

But then, last year, when my youngest was a high school junior, and we were staring down the barrel of an empty nest, a genuine Christmas miracle occurred. On Dec. 23, she asked for a live tree. 

Sure, we already had two artificial trees up in our house, fully decorated. However, with only one more Christmas with a kid at home, how could we say no? 

Our family never does anything spontaneously, but that night, with barely more than 24 hours until Christmas, we rushed off to find a real, honest-to-goodness Christmas tree.

Sure, it was too late to go to a farm, and most of the stores were sold out, but we eventually found a tree. It was a bargain, too, more than half off! Not only was my dream coming true, but it was cheap!

You can’t imagine my excitement as I stuffed that pine tree in the back of our minivan, raced home to my shed and dug out that tree stand I’d been hoarding for two decades. It was missing a few parts, but I knew it would work like a charm.

You can’t imagine my excitement as I stuffed that pine tree in the back of our minivan, raced home to my shed and dug out that tree stand I’d been hoarding for two decades. It was missing a few parts, but I knew it would work like a charm.

By the time we went to bed, we had the tree leveled up, decorated and the house smelled incredible. Finally, a truly authentic Christmas! It was everything I’d hoped it would be.

Unfortunately, when I woke up early on Christmas Eve, I found our holiday dreams shattered on the floor. It turned out that my vintage tree stand didn’t work so well without all the pieces.

Thankfully we’d only broken a few ornaments and a bulb. I cleaned up the mess and did what any self-respecting man would do. I got out my tools and some wire and screwed the tree to the wall. No way was that thing falling down again.

Problem solved, right? Yeah, not so much. A few minutes later we discovered the soggy tree skirt. The stand was leaking. Not only was it making a mess, but I knew that tree wouldn’t last long without a drink.

I did not want to leave the house on Christmas Eve but didn’t have a choice. For some reason, my wife was feeling a little stressed getting ready to host the holidays with a tree wired to the wall gushing water like a spring. I had to go find a new stand.

Easier said than done. I checked three hardware stores and every home improvement store, department store and discount store in town. I even drove by a couple of Christmas tree lots that had already folded up shop. 

What a bunch of Scrooges!

I finally admitted defeat. Apparently, you cannot buy a Christmas tree stand on Christmas Eve. So, I did the next best thing. I stuck a flowerpot in my old Christmas tree stand and called it good.

So, that’s how we celebrated our first authentic, old-fashioned Christmas, with a clearance tree sitting in a flowerpot screwed to our wall. I was finally living the dream!

So, that’s how we celebrated our first authentic, old-fashioned Christmas, with a clearance tree sitting in a flowerpot screwed to our wall. I was finally living the dream!

It seemed about right, though. On that first Christmas in Bethlehem many years ago, Jesus wasn’t born into a shiny nativity set. He was born in a dirty manger. He entered our messy world where things break, leak and fall apart, and some days we are barely holding it all together. Not just with our Christmas decor but in our lives.

Jesus didn’t come for perfect people. He came for real people with a real need for a real Savior. People like me. The only thing perfect about Christmas is Jesus, and that is more than enough to cover the rest. •