Still More | December 22nd, 2016

It was the middle of November and the holiday season was rapidly approaching. I mentally began going through my closet, thinking about what I was going to wear for all of the upcoming parties. Half the excitement of dressing up for me is figuring out how to accessorize my outfit with sparkly, vintage jewelry.

I suddenly had a thought: How fun it would be to wear a vintage Christmas tree ring!  As a girl who loves to repurpose vintage costume jewelry, I figured I could easily make one if I could just find a pin or pair of earrings to buy from the 1940s or ’50s – the era when Christmas tree jewelry was most popular.

After a little shopping around, I finally found a beautiful pair of mid-century colorful rhinestone Christmas tree earrings and got to work making my sparkly, festive ring:

Christmas Tree Memories

Christmas trees happen to be very meaningful to me because of the wonderful memories they gave me as a child. Living in the Northwest, Christmas tree farms were plentiful. So every year, my family (Mom, Dad, and younger sister, Heidi) would bundle up and jump into the car to find a nearby farm where we could pick out the perfect tree together.

I remember trudging in our boots, snow pants, and parkas through the snow to find the tree that was just right for us. It always had to be big and full. “No Charlie Brown trees!” we would all say. As soon as we found the one, Dad would start sawing the trunk while the girls all stood at a distance to watch. Down it would come with a big, loud thud and up it would go on the top of our car for the drive back home.

I remember the delicious smell of the pine and the anticipation of putting all of our special handmade ornaments on the tree together as we listened to old Christmas carols sung by Bing Crosby from our well-worn White Christmas album.

I remember each of us stringing popcorn and cranberries with a needle and long piece of thread till we made a garland together that wrapped all the way around the tree from top to bottom. Dad always made us an extra bowl of popcorn with lots of butter for us to munch on so we wouldn’t end up eating all the popcorn for our garland!

I remember as a little girl when Dad would lift me up with his strong arms so I could touch the star or put an ornament up near the top of the tree where I could have never reached.

I remember after all of the ornaments were hanging on their chosen branches and the Christmas tree lights were illuminated, we would turn the rest of the lights off in the house. Then we would all come back to the living room and squeeze close together on the couch to take in the magnificence of our beautiful family Christmas tree, decorated with so much love and fun memories.

I remember seeing all of the wrapped presents that Mom would hide under the bed in the master bedroom so we couldn’t get into them when we were little girls. It became a tradition to continue to put all of the gifts under the bed every year until Christmas Eve, the most magical night of the year. And then Heidi and I were finally allowed to bring the presents out from under the bed, carry them down the stairs, and place them under the brightly lit tree.

There were always so many gifts to carry that it took many, many trips. Each time we came running down the stairs we would shout, “Still more!” It was so much fun for us that we never wanted it to end!

God’s Gift to Us

Still more. That is the way God’s love is for us. We are so undeserving, yet each day He has still more love to give us. It is never-ending. There is nothing we can do to earn it and nothing we can do to keep Him from loving us.

The greatest expression of God’s love was through sending His only Son, Jesus, to come into this world as a tiny baby so that He could take our sin for us on the cross. He died – for you and for me – and was then raised back to life so that we could spend eternity with Him in heaven. What an incredible gift!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

As you celebrate Jesus’ birth this Christmas, take time to thank God for His incredible act of love for you. And throughout the new year, no matter how far you might stray from that baby in the manger, know there is absolutely NOTHING that can separate you from His love.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Whenever you see a Christmas tree throughout the hustle and bustle of the season, take some time to reflect on how much you are deeply loved. There is no other gift like the gift of God’s love for you because it never ends. His love is a love where there will always be still more.

Kimberly Moore is a blogger, speaker, and author of Beauty in a Life Repurposed and Kingdom Sparkle. To learn more, visit her website at kingdomsparkle.com.

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