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

A Banquet of Tradition and Blessings

"For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves, we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet... Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host, and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long?" - Rebecca Harding Davis

On Thursday, November 24, 2011, my family and friends gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving Day in my home.  The assembly seems to change a bit each year, but not the traditions.  As I grow older and continue to succumb to the demands of life, the time-honored way of preparing for the holidays overwhelms me, so this year I decided to order the meal from a local restaurant.  As the day grew ever closer, my loved ones and I kept adding the old traditional favorites to the menu.  I was delighted as each entree was suggested because even though I was tired and didn’t want to cook, it seemed that the thought of not including these special dishes might somehow change the essence, the persona of this special day that had been fashioned by generations before us.

Right on the top of my list of things to give thanks for are the relationships I have with my loved ones.  I often wish I could go back, if even for a day, to the uncomplicated relationships I had with them when I was a child; the time before the disappointments in life and love could steal away joy and plant bitterness.  Even though some relationships are easy and some are complicated, they are all gifts from God and worthy of sustenance, and I am thankful for them.

I put roses in my fountain this Thanksgiving.  The roses are still in full bloom, little blessings that God uses to plant a little bit of heaven in my heart.  The road that leads to eternal life may be rocky, long, and exhausting, but it is lined with these little blessings to encourage and remind me that the banquet he lays out for us on earth; “the sun, the earth, love, friends and our very breath” is just a taste of things yet to come.

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end." - Ecclesiastes 3:11

Bringing In The Garden

"God almighty first planted a garden" - Sir Francis Bacon

Since winter is finally creeping into Central Texas, I decided it best to bring in my potted plants.  This is not something I really like to do because honestly I take better care of them while they are outside!  I do like the warm feeling they bring in and the fact that I get to save a little green for the days when all I can see outside is grey.

Many of these plants belonged to my Mother, so for some reason I feel the need to nourish them even more, to ensure that they flourish and thrive.  It’s like if I let them die, yet another part of her slips away…so I shuffle them in and out with the changing of the seasons, just as she did.

My dream is to someday have a garden room, as the only room in my home now the least bit suitable for plant life is my formal dining room; it has the most sunlight in the house.  I envision my garden room with glass walls, French doors, white wicker furniture, and a beautiful chandelier; a space both elegant and functional that serves as a bridge connecting the beauty of the outdoors to the inside of our home.  I’ll have to start plans for that after my greenhouse is done.  Oh, and after I get that second job! 

Garden rooms, or sun rooms evolved from farmhouses and urban row homes that had covered porches for the families to sit and relax.  As Americans became more suburbanized, families started using their back patios and gardens for this purpose. They screened in their patios for shelter and privacy, and WALAH, the garden room was born.  Modern sun rooms offer all that the older ones did but in a more elaborate, comfortable setting because of advanced building technology.

For now, my dining room will serve as a surrogate garden room.  I will bring my green beauties into a place where the sun can fill them with warmth and life and keep winter’s bite at arm’s length.  In return I get the privilege of carrying on the legacy that my Mom fashioned through her love of gardening.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1: 11-12

To Bloom or Not to Bloom...My Trees Want to Know

"Never yet was a springtime, where the buds forgot to bloom" - Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

I have been raving on the insanely hot, crazy summer we have had here in Central Texas.  June-August was the hottest such period on record for the states of Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico.  In fact, in records dating to 1895, the June-August mean statewide temperatures in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana were three of the four hottest such summer mean temperatures on record for the U.S.  Now that the weather has cooled down and we have had a little rain, plant life here is quite confused on what to do!  Roses, trees, and shrubs are blooming, putting out new leaves, and the grass is turning green again.  A few days ago, a cold front blew in and the skies turned grey casting a dreary façade on the landscape.  As we were looking out the kitchen window into the back yard, I commented that it looked like winter, pondered for a moment and said “well, if you don’t look at all the flowers and green grass”.

I did a little research and learned that fall blossoming in fruit and other spring flowering trees and shrubs can occur if the tree is stressed during the summer (heat, drought, etc.).  While stressed, a plant may become dormant.  When the weather moderates, if conditions are just right, the tree comes out of dormancy and flowers as if it were springtime. The trees do not usually expend all their blossom buds at this time, so there should be more flowers next spring.  So if you have been scratching your head and wondering why your fruit trees are blooming in November, now you know!

Latent, inactive, sleeping, resting, undeveloped, hidden, and quiescent are all synonyms for the adjective dormant.  So many of us can’t seem to escape from difficult circumstances and stresses in our lives and as a result we slip into dormancy, a place where growth and development are not required.  This can be a dangerous place to be.  If we don't pass through this place, we can become self-absorbed and stagnate and this leads us away from God and our relationships with others.  God didn’t intend for us to be alone, he covets an intimate relationship with us and commands us to make that relationship the number one priority in our life, followed by the command to make our relationship with others number two.  That is why we are here, to love God and others, learn, grow, and form relationships that will break through any hurdles that keep life stagnate.  Finally, it is through our relationships that we can lead others to Christ, who, when our work is done here, will transplant our lives and loves here on earth, to eternal ones in Heaven.

Stress and circumstances are the droughts of life, while relationships are the sustenance of life.  Nurturing significant relationships and relishing the healing that they can bring will carry you out of dormancy and into full bloom…no matter the season.

"For I know the plans I have for you say the Lord, plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."  - NSV Jeremiah 29:11

Halloween - About Relationships

“A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween.”  ~Erma Bombeck

As it goes for most kids, Halloween was always one of my favorite days of the year.  As a child, the anticipation of hiding behind a mask and going out for “tricks or treats” started building the minute fall blew in and built to a climax on Halloween night as I perused the streets in search of fun and treats.  Then a melancholy feeling replaced excitement as the evening ended.  Funny, it still feels the same way for me but with different activities!  I love decorating for Halloween with fall décor as well as adding a spooky component by strategically placing spiders, mice, and skulls (to name a few things) around the house.  I love to play “pranks” on my loved ones and love having the kids and grandkids over for all the fun.  I trick or treat vicariously through the grandkids now.  I watched in amusement as the kids geared up with excited anticipation and Mom coerced them with threats of “not getting to go” if they didn't eat their dinner.  But finally, exhaustedly, Mom breaks down and agrees to start the face painting and costume donning ritual that pave the way to a final blast-off out the front door.

As a Christian, I have felt convicted about my love for Halloween.  There are a lot of opinions on whether or not Christian’s should take part in this pagan holiday.  History reveals that Halloween actually has roots in the Christian faith.  You can read about it here:  http://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html.  Nonetheless, I do not subscribe to the “evil” side that is so popular, or the gore, or any mean-spiritedness that may be associated with it.  I try to establish a balance that keeps me grounded in my Christian faith but allows me to enjoy the innocent fun of the day.

Halloween straddles fall and winter and brings to the season a mischievous festiveness that really appeals to me.  Just like other holidays, it offers me a time to bond with the people in my life that I love, and provides yet another opportunity to foster the relationships that mean everything to me.  A time to play, laugh, escape, live, and love is how I view Halloween; a very worthwhile occasion in my book.

“These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” – John 15:17