Oh Christmas Tree

Gravel and grit.

Tires and tinsel.

Rawness wrapped in lights,

beauty in the umbrella bones star reaching towards heaven, a dead branch planted in a tire vase . . .



The tire tree and dead branch tree duo, created by the residents of Pancho Mateo, a community outside of Montellano where a gravel road extends towards the mountains and frames in mixed culture neighbors, Haitians and Dominicans, is my most favorite Christmas tree EVER (and I do LOVE Christmas trees of all kinds and sizes . . . . another post).

Even though I LOVE taking photos of others, unfortunately rather than have an artful approach to our own personal Christmas card, I have a "get 'er done" mentality, resulting in non-smiling, awkwardly natural moments like this one. But that's beside the point . . .  I love the little guy climbing on the branch tree beside them. I love how something that is dead, like I was before I knew Jesus, represents the life of Jesus-baby-man coming down to earth to bring life!

It's the very thing I imagine Jesus would love, humble and sincere, constructed by a community with heart, one NOT devoid of very real, daily, palpable struggle nor authentic human spirit, the kind that says "GOD IS WITH US."

I don't want to romanticize the hardship of this community nor gloss over the strained relations that definitely exist here, but this tree represents unabashed creativity, authenticity, unity of spirit, neighborly togetherness, and ultimately HOPE.  It is a MOST BEAUTIFUL tree.

That God would bring new life to a stump . . .

A new shoot would spring forth from the old root . . . . thank you, Jesus, for coming. Thank you, God for sending Him. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for making me aware of my need for Him.

Isaiah 11: 1, 10

OUT OF THE STUMP OF DAVID'S FAMILY WILL GROW A SHOOT -
YES, A NEW BRANCH BEARING FRUIT FROM THE OLD ROOT . . .
IN THAT DAY THE HEIR
TO DAVID'S THRONE WLL BE A BANNER OF SALVATION
TO ALL THE WORLD.
THE NATIONS WILL RALLY TO HIM,
AND THE LAND WHERE HE LIVES WILL BE
A GLORIOUS PLACE.

YES, OUT OF THE STUMP WILL GROW A SHOOT -