By Esther C. Baird
First Published in the Tri Town Transcript November 26, 2019
When you read this it will be right around Thanksgiving. My early Christmas decorating may be mildly annoying to some of you, but still within the acceptable range. But what if I tell you that our decorations, like so many twinkling outliers, actually went up two weekends ago?
Last week, the ladies in my Bible study shared their favorite Thanksgiving traditions. I tried to behave; Really, I did. Mashed potatoes are an exciting food! And certainly nothing beats a festive beige gourd.
But then it was my turn. “My favorite Thanksgiving tradition is that it ends and it’s finally time for Christmas!”
The study leader gave me a polite smile. She’s a friend of mine so I knew her smile wasn’t meant to be affirming.
I decorate early because November can not be endured without extra light and cheer. Plus, in my job at church, I am responsible for the annual women’s Christmas event. It’s always the first Thursday of December, which means I’m in Christmas mode back in October as our team works their planning magic.
This year, however, after all the details came together and the posters were hung in the church hallways with care, we received some news; One of the local colleges moved its family-friendly, all- community, much beloved, Christmas tree lighting ceremony to the same date as our event. Practically everyone I knew had a reason to be there.
There, and not at our annual women’s event.
“Just change your date,” my friend said, as I hyperventilated.
“I can’t do that,” I snapped. “We’ve had our program on this same date every single year. There is absolutely no way we could ever move our event. Never!”
By now, Regular Readers are familiar with what happens when I stomp about declaring things.
Obviously we changed our date.
It was the right decision, but suddenly all the posters were wrong. And the announcements. All the slides at the front of the church, the bulletin, the website, the newsletter. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
This might have exhausted me or tempted me to quit Christmas.
But when I came home after cutting out little sticky squares with the correct date and slapping them over the wrong date on each poster, and after changing the website, not once but twice thanks to sooooo many alert eyes that caught my typos (I’m a writer, not an editor!), I returned to Christmas at home, peaceful and inviting regardless of the date. I could simmer down and not quit.
Until the next day.
Beyond the posters and plans, these past weeks I’ve been carrying a very tall and skinny fake Christmas tree back and forth between the sanctuary and meeting rooms. I move it based on where the largest group of women happen to be for our various weekly meetings. The tree is decorated with gift tags to support our donation to Amirah, a local organization that helps women get out of trafficking.
Making sure all the gifts are matched to the Amirah residents is a key part of our Christmas event. So I’ve carted the tree up the stairs to the sanctuary, and down the stairs and across the courtyard. And across the courtyard and into the office, and back out of the office into the education building, and out of the education building and back up the stairs to the sanctuary.
Repeat and repeat.
It’s not a heavy tree, but it’s awkward and feels like snuggling a porcupine. As I type this, I’ve just carried it from the office to the sanctuary. Who thought this was a good idea!? Why am I covered in tree glitter and dusted fake snow??
But when I come home, my own tree, with its abundance of twinkle lights, stands still and calm. It’s stationary next to my couch and I’m stationary on my couch. Perfect. In those rare and quiet moments I can remember that our event will bring good news of great joy, not to mention much appreciated gifts to women in need, no matter how mangled the posters or tree (or tree-carrier) becomes. It was never about us anyway.
See? Frazzled, yet cheered. Tired, yet encouraged. Early decorating saves the day, much like the Christmas story itself. The next few weeks are uniquely busy. Our normal lives are layered with all the extra shopping and wrapping and events and food and outfits and transportation and clean up. It’s a wild ride from here until January.
But around town the lights are going up, the wreaths are being hung and the sounds of Christmas are coming to life. And that is something I can be thankful for.