Every day until Christmas, I’m recounting “Simple Christmas” stories shared with me a few years ago by my radio listeners. One thing we all learned from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is that it’s not how fancy your tree is that matters, it’s the love it represents. A radio listener of mine named Vicky from California sent me a beautiful story that illustrates that as well as Charles M. Schultz did. If you enjoy these stories, please let me know in the comments below.
Vicky recalled a time years before, when her young family was desperately poor and struggling to provide Christmas for their three small children. Her husband brought home a tree, but after working 14 hours, he hadn't noticed it was dead and brown on one side.
A neighbor tried to help by giving them a little 18-inch, lighted table-top tree. Vickie thought it was so small and ugly, she began to cry at the thought that this thing would be their family's tree. Just then, her little daughter began to cry, too, and hugged her. But she was crying for a very different reason.
The little girl said in awe, “That is the most beautiful tree I have ever seen. Do we really get to have that as our tree this year?"
Vicki wrote, “I had a permanent attitude change. That night, I couldn't stop thanking our Heavenly Father enough for His blessings.”
So you see, it’s true: A little child shall lead them. Tomorrow, a story that reminds us Christmas is not about the getting, but the giving.
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