Not just an ordinary ornament!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is putting up the tree. After 30 years of marriage, we have so many ornaments that have special meanings. It's funny that even after many years have gone by, we still can look at the ornament and be flooded with memories.

For instance, on our tree, we have an ornament that my grandmother (who has gone to be with the Lord) made many years ago. My daughter this year pulled it out of the box and said "What's this?" and proudly I said, "My Grandmother made THAT!"

Also on our tree are some very cherished ornaments. The ones that the kids made in school when they were younger have so much meaning. But, I remember one year I was going to decorate the tree in all blue ornaments and my son (now 21) said, "NO MOM! You have to put our ornaments on the tree!"

This year, we have adorned our Christmas tree with yet another special ornament. An ornament that last year we received as a gift that was hand painted by one of our kids.

As I gaze over at our tree adorned with such beautiful memories, I can't help but think about how we often times attach memories to certain objects. The emotions that often come attached to those memories can instantly turn a common, ordinary object into a wonderful treasure!

I would imagine that is how it was for Mary. Every time she saw a manger after that first Christmas Eve, it must have taken her back to memories of the stable. Her thoughts must have raced back to that one life changing moment when her baby was born a Savior. A stable, hay and animals set the stage, there was nothing extraordinary about that, but yet from that, a wonderful treasure was brought forth.

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

I wonder, this Christmas, what kind of ornaments have memory and special meaning for you? Not just the kind that hang on your tree, but maybe you have something that appears ordinary to the common eye but when you look past the outer appearance you see the beauty, the treasure of it.

That is exactly what God does when He looks at us. He does not see what we see. He sees beauty in His masterpiece. What we see as ordinary, He sees as a wonderful treasure. He sees the ornament in all of us.