Christmas was a few weeks away and Alex and all his friends were busy have lots of winter fun. While parents were busy shopping, wrapping gifts and sending out Christmas cards, the kids were building snowmen and sledding. All the normal winter games. Alex had many friends. He lived in a large neighborhood and most of the children were close in age.
Ted was at Alex's window looking for him to come out and play. Alex and 
Suzanne were playing a board game on the floor. It was such a nice day outside, they both decided to go out with Ted and have some fun in the snow. They lived in a large neighborhood backing up to a wooded area with some nice size hills to sled and have fun on.
Alex grabbed his coat and on the way back out the door Ted noticed 
a pretty candle wreath Alex's mom had made. Alex explained it was an Advent wreath. Each of the four Sundays before Christmas you light a new candle until the last of the four was lit and then it would soon be Christmas day. The 1st Sunday symbolizes Hope with the Prophet's Candle: Jesus is coming. Both Suzanne and Ted thought that such a neat idea. They both said they were going to tell their moms about it.
On Alex's front porch sat a sad looking little tree that Suzanne 
asked Alex about. He explained that his mom had seen it at the store among some real pretty little Christmas trees and felt sorry for it. Alex's mom had a heart as big as the moon in the sky. It was a live tree in a little pot. Alex had put a red ornament on it to make his mom feel better. You see, Alex had inherited his mom's big heart. In his mind he could see it all dressed up as a beautiful Christmas tree someday.
Shoveling snow down the sidewalk was another friend Cindy. She had it 
cleaned all the way to the corner of the street. Tommy was headed down the walk to Wonderland Mountain. It seemed all the neighbor kids were out. It was a very warm winter day with a beautiful sun shinning. Tommy stopped along the way to play king of the snow hill with another friend.
Boys will be boys you know! All the children had nicknamed the hill Wonderland 
Mountain. It started to snow lightly and Tommy did the catch snow on your tongue game. Tommy was very good at all winter sports. He had a beautiful toboggan and when he and his friend got to the top of Wonderland Mountain, they were in for a great ride to the bottom.
Down the hill they came and were really having fun! Eric the 
neighborhood snowboard expert was headed up the hill on a ski lift. When Eric was out everyone was in for a show, he was a great snow boarder. Tommy and his friend were headed toward the bottom of the hill. It was one of their best runs ever. They decided they would watch Eric come down on his snowboard.
Eric was just getting started and took some moguls to warm 
up. Things that would be difficult for most people, were just warming up for Eric. Then when he gets going, he really puts on a show. Some people say he will be in the Olympics someday. Everyone stops what they are doing to watch.
At the bottom of the run, Eric stops to wave a thank you to all 
the folks who were clapping. Eric is a very nice guy and never gets a big head because he is good. He knows there will always be someone out there just a little better than him so he continues to work hard. It was starting to get dark and Alex and his friends headed for home. Along the way Alex ask his friends to pray for his mother's little tree. He hoped it wouldn't die and make her sad.
Suzanne said she would and did. So did the others. Alex had a bunch of 
good friends. Several more days of fun in the snow went by. On Sunday Alex's mom lit the second candle, The 2nd Sunday symbolizes Faith with the Bethlehem Candle: Mary & Joseph's journey to Bethlehem. Suddenly one day the kids all got up, went outside and the sad little tree was missing from Alex's porch. When they went up to ski that day there it was planted and growing right on Wonderland Mountain even this time of year!
Someone had even put a few lights on the little tree. First thing the next morning the kids all 
ran to see the tree. Sure enough, it even had a few evergreen needles on it. The kids were all amazed. They thought maybe they should camp out that night and see exactly what was going on. It was pretty cold but they set up their tents and built a fire.
Late that night Suzanne heard a noise and looked out of the tent. 
She saw a beautiful fairy sitting in front of the little tree. She seemed to be blessing the tree. Suzanne kept what she had seen to herself but she could see again the next day that the sad little tree had grown even more. The skiers could see that too, the little tree seemed taller ever day!
That night the fairy must have been there again because the next day 
the tree had grown to a size even the skiers couldn't make it over! It was time to cut this tree down and take it home to his mom. She was going to be so surprised! Alex had a teenage friend with a pickup truck and several friends who went along to help bring home the tree for his mother.
Tommy had been so excited he even brought decorations for the 
tree, never realizing most would blow off on the way to Alex's house. Mean while, Santa only had a couple of weeks left before the big day and he was making the best of it. At that very moment he was on a golf course teeing off.
This was the time of year all the elves and even Mrs.Clause pampered 
Santa the most. They thought it was very important for him to rest up before the big night got here. He got to do all the things he loved. Golf, play guitar, the sax, even do a jig. Besides the night of Christmas eve, this was Santa's favorite time.
Santa loved playing his instruments and doing an occasional jig. He 
liked to ride the reindeer around the North Pole and just take a break and relax before the big night arrived! It was a very hard job making it to every child's house in one night. There must have been a little magic spread around on Christmas Eve to help Santa get to every home. Maybe he had a little help from the fairy who grew Alex's tree!
Santa was really just a big kid himself, he loved trying out all the toys 
the elves had made. He also loved to ski, so he got a lot of practice trying out the new ski sets to make sure they worked well. At least that was what he told Mrs. Claus. Mrs.Claus knew Santa's favorite treat was Gingerbread Cookies.
Mrs. Claus fixed him up a whole batch every Christmas. They didn't last 
long after Santa got his hands on them. Of course that's what Gingerbread cookies are made for and there is no greater honor than to be one baked for Santa Claus!
Alex's mom lit the 3rd candle. The 3rd Sunday symbolizes Joy with the 
Shepherd's Candle: Joy at the coming birth of Jesus. This meant it was only a little more than 1 week left till Christmas! Alex had to get his new tree decorated. His mother was so proud of what a beautiful tree the sad little twig she had brought home had turned out to be. Alex was doing a great job of straightening Tommy's ornaments and adding more his family had. The tree was going to be so pretty!
Uh oh, Alex's mom just hung the mistletoe over the doorway! 
That meant whoever stopped under it got a kiss. Alex stayed away from that doorway but couldn't figure his dad out. He hung around the doorway all the time! Alex just didn't get it. His dad and mom were kissing all the time under that mistletoe. One thing for sure, there wasn't going to be any mistletoe in his house when he was grown.
The 4th candle was now lit. The 4th Sunday symbolizes Peace with 
the Angel's Candle: The Message of the Angels "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men." Just a few more days left before Christmas day! Alex and some friends thought they better get some shopping done to help Santa out. The magic of Christmas would be here soon and everyone wanted to be ready with a special gift for those they loved. Alex's mom felt she had already received the best gift in the world. A sad little tree that turned into the most beautiful one in the world. At least to her.
SPECIAL PEOPLE SEE BEAUTY WHERE OTHERS DON'T EVEN THINK TO LOOK!
No comments:
Post a Comment