The Easter Tree

When my wife first dragged the Christmas tree back into the yard from the curb where I had placed it, I asked, “Why?”

“I’ve got a project in mind,” she said.

I let it go… but I complained again after it laid there for a few days. Then I decided to move it to the backyard…at least it would be out of sight. I asked a few more times, but she was vague, so I dropped it again, after teasing her of course. What could she possibly do with a dead Christmas tree that would look like anything?

A month or two later, when the weather broke, I saw her hacking the limbs off with a small shovel. Still puzzled, I offered to help…but I didn’t really mean it. When she said, “No thanks”, I was relieved, but I brought her a good saw to make it easier. What kind of husband do you think I am anyway? Of course I teased her some more when the limbless trunk leaned against the house for a few more weeks.

Then there was the dead limb she dragged out of the back yard. Later, I threw it in the brush pile to be burned, but she said, “I need that for my project”. Of course I retrieved it, but not without grumbling, and then some more teasing… Some project… a dead tree trunk and a limb.

I should know by now, when things like this happen, I’m always the one who ends up looking stupid. How could I know that it was a reminder for our family…especially our four year old granddaughter.

Who would think of this way to teach a four year old that the happiest day her four young years had known, Christmas, would soon turn into Easter?

How do you get past the presents and the Easter baskets to tell her what this is all about?

How do you tell her that the birth of a baby boy led to an agonizing death….all for us! And then a resurrection! A love so great, that we can live with Him forever! How can you explain that?

You simply you do what a four year old would do…you draw a picture!

The pictures above were taken Friday, before Easter. Little did I know when I walked outside that morning I would see she wasn’t finished. Neither was He! Aren’t you glad?