Psalm 150 – Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his
mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing
greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp
and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and
pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. (NIV)
Ernie, my husband of 37 years, died on October 10th. As we gathered in the
sanctuary of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on
October 19th to celebrate Ernie's life with a memorial service, there was a
small Christmas tree sitting on a short table on the platform. Many wondered why
it was there until I got up during the service to share some of Ernie's life,
which included the story of our Christmas tree.
For years, each Christmas, we have put a small Christmas tree on top of the
armoire in our bedroom. Ernie, who had been given two months to live in January
of 2011, now spent most of his time in our bedroom. After Christmas last year, I
suggested to Ernie that he might like to keep it there all the time, as he often
slept with the tree lights on all night. This little 16-inch tree, with its
small stuffed birds and other miniature decorations, has two strings of the old
kind of miniature lights, all of which go out if one bulb burns out. With God's
grace, the top string has never burnt out, but over the year, one by one, bulbs
on the bottom string of the tree lights burned out and had to be replaced, until
by summer, there were no spares left. I thought of putting a notice downstairs
in our apartment building, but, sadly, I did not think to ask God to send me
some — but God is good.
One Monday morning last June, I was taking some old clothes to a local Bibles
For Missions thrift store. As I went to the back door, I glanced at the stuff
that had been left over the weekend and noticed a grocery bag containing
Christmas tree lights! There I was, dancing around the parking lot, hands in the
air, praising God for His awesome gift! Over the summer, the bottom string burnt
out repeatedly and was replaced four or five times, until there was only one
string left, which was in an unopened box. That last string continued to burn
brightly through Ernie's last days. The little tree went with him for the last
four days of his life in the Embassy West Hospice and shone brightly as Ernie,
after nearly three years with pulmonary fibrosis and three heart attacks,
ascended into heaven to meet his Lord and Saviour, Jesus, in the late afternoon
of October 10th. That little tree, lit with its bright lights, stood on the
platform of the sanctuary as we gathered on October 19th to celebrate Ernie's
life.
Strangely, last weekend, I put up Ernie's tree in my bedroom and plugged it in —
nothing. Both of the strings of lights on the tree were burned out!
I've felt nudged lately by the Holy Spirit to share this Christmas tree story
about the goodness of God, His faithfulness, and how He gives us gifts without
our even praying for them. Even in the poignancy of death, God grants us little
touches of His love to soften the blow and let us know that He cares. “Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” (Psalm 116:15
NIV)
Prayer: Father, in the name of Your Son, Jesus, we praise and thank You for the
life of Your faithful servants who have passed to their reward, and for Your
promise to us who believe, that we will spend eternity with You. Help us to live
each day as if it were our last. As we enter the season of Advent, guide us in
our preparations to celebrate the birth of Your Son, Jesus, who died that we may
have eternal life. Help us each to remember that Jesus is the reason for the
season. Amen.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Receive our free newsletters
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.