Let There Be Lights!

After so many years together, my husband and I have found ourselves with some clearly defined roles within our home. When it comes to Christmas decorating he is the "light man" and I am in charge of placing the ornaments. Typically when it comes time to put all the seasonal décor away we take on these same areas of responsibility. I remove all the ornaments and he comes behind me and takes care of the lights.

This weekend he has been working like a madman (45 of the last 60 hours, but who's counting). So, the tree clean up felt like something I should take on without him. Twenty frustrating minutes into the task, this is what I had accomplished.

And I still had another tree to tackle after this!

It seems the secret to the gorgeous sparkling lights my man gives us each year is that they are everywhere! There were 9 strands on this 7 foot tree...and they were wrapped over and around and through the branches so thoroughly that I had to walk away a couple of times and regroup. I have no doubt it took me much longer to remove them than it took my husband to put them there in the first place.

There were so many layers and multiple points of crossover that removal was very complicated. And the result had been gorgeous. The tree had depth and sparkle.

It struck me that this is a terrific metaphor for parenting. The lights reminded me of the way we should be wrapping our children's hearts in truth.

It is my prayer that as life, circumstances, false teaching and doubt try to dim them--it will prove to be a frustratingly difficult task because there is simply light woven in and out of their hearts--from top to bottom, trunk to tip. I pray that they "may shine like stars in a crooked a depraved generation" because the light of truth is completely entangled in them. May they, too, have depth and sparkle that is extraordinary.

That doesn't happen by accident. It is an intentional work. And I love the Christmas light metaphor because it reminds me that it is less about a perfect system--and more about simply covering them up.

May we seize the plethora of moments we are given each day to teach, instruct, encourage, love and ground them in deep roots of truth. I have no doubt the results will be glorious!