A Spider In My Christmas Tree

“If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive.”  ~American Quaker Saying

Garden spiders are one of my favorite inhabitants in the garden.  They spin and weave beautiful orb webs and take up residence amongst the plant life that thrives there.  They are as beautiful as they are fascinating and all dressed up in black and yellow they bring to the garden an element of mystique and eccentricity.  I like that.  I like different.  That is why I added a spider to my Christmas tree.

I found my beautiful spider ornament at a local arts and craft show.  There is a legend that originates from German folklore that came with it.  The story goes like this:

Once upon a time in Germany, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year.  Not a speck of dust was left on the day when the Christ Child was to come and bring the gifts of Christmas Eve.  Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning.  They finally fled to the farthest corner of the forgotten attic.

'Twas Christmas Eve at last!  The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it.  But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ Child's visit.  The oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see Him.  Silently, they crept out of their attic and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold.

Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit, and quickly the spiders sneaked into the room. The tree towered so high they couldn't see the ornaments on top.  In fact, their eyes were so small they could see only one ornament at a time.  They scurried up the trunk, out along each branch, filled with a happy wonder at the glittering beauty. Every place they went they left a trail of dusty, grey web.  When at last they had inspected every bit of the Christmas tree, it was shrouded in a dusty grey of spider webs.

The Christ Child smiled as He thought of the happy spiders seeing His tree.  But He knew the mother would not feel the same way and that she would be broken hearted. So He reached out His hand and touched the webs and blessed them.  They all turned to shimmering, sparkling silver and gold.  The tree glistened in greater beauty than ever before.

Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on the tree, and according to the story, it has become a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.

Every creature on earth has a purpose, including spiders.  Spiders are ultimate exterminators and help to control insect populations.  God, like the spiders, weaved all of creation together in a web of cooperativeness that works to create a balance in nature and promotes harmony.  How appropriate that he would give us yet another example in the spider of how his work is accomplished.

“The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.” – Proverbs 30:28

Lizzie Loves Me

“It is not a slight thing when those so fresh from God, love us.”  - Charles Dickens

She is a carbon copy of my daughter; I dare to say they could have been twins.  It catches me off guard at times and I have to look twice.  Sometimes it takes me back twenty years and then that old familiar feeling of loss creeps back in, just when I thought I had let it go.  My daughter is still close, still within arms reach and we have a strong love, but the child she was is what I miss.  God is so good, he knew just what I needed, and he knew I wasn’t quite ready for the empty nest, so he sent me someone to fill the void.  He sent me a little repeat, a sweet, loving child named Elizabeth, my first grandchild.  So caught up in my own circus, I missed out on the first part of the show and didn’t really get to know her until now.  Oh, I was always present, but not engaged and it was not until God brought me to a place of understanding that I realized just what I was missing out on.  As always, he was right. 

We call her Lizzie.  The name Elizabeth is Hebrew and Lizzie is a variant of that.  It means “God’s promise; God is my oath”.  She is God’s promise to me that I will always have that child like love in my life.  When we went to pick her up for the weekend, she was so excited.  My heart was full.  It is good to be loved, and a child’s love is so pure, so real.

That naïve, simple, innocent, authentic, and trusting love is what God wants from us as well.  He longs for us to come to him, as little children, and place our faith and trust in Him for all our needs.  He craves and covets our love, and in return he offers redemption, forgiveness, comfort, and most importantly, eternal life.

“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” – Mark 10:13-15

Dreaming of a Paperwhite Christmas

“Tradition simply means that we need to end what began well and continue what is worth continuing.” – Jose Bergamin

Winter has set in here in Central Texas, but the chance of seeing any of that white stuff, outside anyway, is slim to none.  So, I decided I would just give myself a Paperwhite Christmas!  I am forcing bulbs, bought at my local home and garden store, in shallow containers inside at work and at home.  “Forcing” means growing bulbs inside and out of season to enjoy their blooms.  The classic Paperwhite are members of the Daffodil family and have vibrant snow-white, star-shaped petals with yellow stamens with a distinctive, sweet smell.  They have become almost as synonymous during the Christmas holidays as poinsettias.

Since Paperwhites will thrive in any planting medium, I decided to fill containers with rocks and pebbles, place the bulbs on top of the rocks and add enough water to come just above the roots of the bulbs.  Their green tips are now peeking out in anticipation of shooting upward to find warmth and light.

Paperwhites and Amaryllis are two bulbs that are easy to grow and force to bloom inside because the bulbs do not require a chilling process called vernalization, as most other bulbs do.  They originated in warmer climates and have adapted to flowering without this chilling process.  They only need heat and light to grow and reward you with beautiful flowers and fragrance indoors.  

Here is a general guide to forcing Paperwhites that I got from Ehow.com:

• Purchase healthy, high-quality paper-white bulbs, free of bruises or soft spots.  You can start forcing Paperwhites as soon as you can buy bulbs in fall, and continue planting every two weeks until you can no longer find quality bulbs - usually late winter to spring.
• Select a shallow dish.  The best size is 12 inches wide and 1 to 2 inches deep, but almost any size will do.
• Fill the dish with small pebbles or gravel.
• Cover the rocks with water.
• Place the bulbs in the dish, pointed side up, nestling the bottoms into the wet stones.
• Place the dish in a warm, well-lighted indoor location, such as a sunny window.  Keep the stones constantly wet.  Paperwhites usually bloom in about six weeks.
• After blooming, if the soil is not frozen, plant the bulbs outdoors and keep them moist.

I still have one bag of bulbs left to plant.  I like to stagger plantings so I have a longer period of time with flowers to enjoy.  And the next planting is just in time for my granddaughters visit this weekend.  Hopefully engaging her help in the process will plant a seed of  tradition in her heart that will someday, as Christmas seasons come and go,  grow a desire to carry on the customs of old as well as bloom with new and fresh petals of tradition.

In my home, the practice of forcing Paperwhites has taken its place among the many Christmas traditions carried down in my family over the generations.  I just love the way they look, so simple….kind of the way Christmas should be…

“Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.” - 1 Corinthians 11:2