Page 10 - 2018 AdventDevo-Flip book

Tuesday, December 4
The Christmas Chickens
“For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever,
And his faithfulness continues to each generation.”

Scripture: Psalm 100: 1-5

When my sister and I were growing up in Cleveland, my grandmother
would get us each a new Christmas tree ornament every year. Many years
she made them herself in ceramics, lovingly inscribing our names and the
year on the back. As grandma got older, she began buying the orna-
ments. Whether made or purchased, each addition to our collections
was meaningful and special. We have angels, stars, bells, candles, stock-
ings, Santa’s—all the traditional signs of Christmas.

And, we have Christmas Chickens! At least, I think that’s what they are.
Even brand new, these ornaments were rather odd looking. And as they
chipped and aged over the years, they became odder still.

These Chickens, along with all our other ‘special’ ornaments, have always
stayed at my mom and dad’s, even after my sister and I moved away.
Each year, we’d gather at my parents’ home in early December to lug up
the tree from the basement—a big, heavy relic from the 80s—then deco-
rate it with all our keepsakes. Opening the boxes was always so much
fun, each ornament a special memory of Christmases past. And the
Chickens, in particular, became sort of a family joke. If my sister found
them first, she’d put them on the back of the tree. But if I found them,
they’d go front and center. The Chickens inevitably got moved a few
times during the season. But I always made sure they had prime real es-
tate come Christmas morning.

Well, time goes on and new traditions replace old ones. That big old tree
now has a new home in my family room, and its branches get adorned
with my own kids’ growing collection of ‘special’ ornaments. A few years
ago, we bought mom and dad a much smaller, easier to manage, pre-
decorated ‘designer’ tree that’s super simple to put up. It’s beautiful and
they love it. But I still remember feeling a little sad the first year they
used it. We had Christmas in Cleveland that year, and when we arrived, I