This year, we had planned to get our Christmas tree from a craft store (specifically, from the store's ream of green butcher paper).
But every time we would go to any store on some errand, Keyan's eyes would immediately go to the display of Christmas trees at the back, and he would say, "Ohhh! Look at the Christmas trees! They're so beauuuuutiful!"
We thought, "Well... maybe we can find a small, inexpensive tree. We'll just go look." So, we went to Frederico's just a mile or two from here. We got out and went straight to the smallest tree, which was about 4 feet tall. $39.99??? I couldn't believe it! (In a bad way, that is. I re-read that just now and it almost sounded like I thought that was a steal!) We skimmed the price tags on other trees, but they were all more or less the same. Then, as we were leaving, we saw a stash of smaller 2 and 3 foot trees leaning up against the fence. Perfect, we thought! But a couple standing nearby must have read our thoughts, because they hurried to grab the tallest, nicest looking one of the bunch. The other smaller trees were only $12.99... but they were so tiny that I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for one.
Then... lo & behold... a voice. "Hey, I know you." It was Zach Taylor, who attended high school with Jonathan & was also in the Missionary Training Center at the same time. They chatted while I took Keyan back to the car. Minutes later, I was surprised to see Jonathan walking towards us... holding a tree! He had seen one bundled up, without a price tag, so he had asked how much it would be. Zach said, "For you, Hoehne... 10 bucks." It was awesome. It's the most beautiful 3 1/2 foot tree I've ever beheld :)
I feel very blessed to have had that experience. Not because we got a tree out of it, but because I know that the Lord watches over us in even the smallest endeavors. A Christmas tree may be a small thing (literally, in this case)... but, to me, it is a symbol of the Lord's love for us- a love so much bigger than we can imagine.
3 comments:
awe... thats gotta be the cutest picture EVER! i love it! and i love the story! (even if i already heard it at lunch the other day... it was still fun to read about it!)
how fun to have a real tree... we've just got the artificial ones. but they're still fun. we decided to put ours up today... jax helped it was fun! still dont have decorations on it cause all we have are the glass balls and i'm not about to put them on our tree with little ones! so we'll have to get crafty and think of something kid proof!
I love the picture too. It sums up perfectly how Keyan is mesmerized by our tree.
I love your story! I remember once when I was looking for a pregnancy workout video--I found the one I most wanted, and every time I went to buy it, I felt like I should wait. Again and again. It was $15. Then one day I stopped by D.I. and was looking through the videos. Hidden in a gross looking rental case was the video...for $2! It sounds silly, but it really was a tender mercy. It made me feel like the Lord really knew me. Because everyone prays for health, and safe trips, etc., but only I would care about a Kathy Smith workout video.
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