The crash was so loud that both our dogs went racing from the room to the farthest corner of the house. Earlier that day my husband, Mike, and I had gone to a nearby Christmas tree farm and cut down our tree. In the evening after the lights were on, we were ready to decorate. Our son, Dan, joined in the fun, as we reminisced over 38 years of tree ornaments. Each ornament is a memory of a vacation, a milestone, a childhood craft session, and even funny things like my daughter Amy’s and my love of ketchup. Yes, we actually have a ketchup bottle ornament, courtesy of the Heinz History Center gift shop in Pittsburgh, PA.
After we finished carefully placing the last ornaments, all three of us stood back, admiring our beautiful Christmas tree. As I placed the tree skirt around the trunk, the tree toppled over, with ornaments flying and lights tangling. In all our years of Christmas trees, this had never happened. After the astonishment wore off, we assessed the damage. Amazingly, none of the ornaments were broken.
As we looked at the tree stand, it suddenly dawned on Mike that its supports were not extended. In other words, the foundation wasn’t secure. That explained it all. Thankfully, this was an easy fix, and now our tree is once again upright, with lights and memories shining out brightly.
All this reminded me how important our foundation is. Jesus told a story about a wise man who built his house on the rock, while a foolish man built his house on the sand. Storms came and hit both houses, but only one stood firm. What are you building your life on? Storms will come, but you can withstand them if you have a proper foundation. Let Jesus be your foundation, and you won’t topple over.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Romans 1:16
Merry Christmas!
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