I’ve always looked at Christmas trees in American films and thought how different they are to the type of pines we usually have in Australia as Christmas trees. But since we’ve moved to the South Coast I’ve discovered the pines used for Christmas trees here are different to the trees we had each year in Sydney and in Orange.
One year while in Orange, we visited a Christmas tree farm and chopped down a tree – a New Zealand Radiata Pine, the woman who owned the tree farm informed me. Like all writers the experience wasn’t wasted, as I used it to write a book for young readers, called ‘Exactly Right,’ about choosing a tree from the Christmas Tree farm. You can see a copy of the cover on the books page of my website – www.daleharcombe.com. Sadly, when we got the tree home and inside, I was disappointed. It didn’t have that usual pervasive smell I associate with Christmas trees.
Noticing the trees here were different to that, this year we planned a trip to the Real Christmas Tree Farm near Nowrato chop one down. But in the end we saw some while going past a plant nursery and decided on that easier option.
So, finally the smell of Christmas has arrived. Not from the Christmas cake cooking, although I love the smell of that too. That happened a couple of weeks ago.
Now the house spells of Christmas pine. And last night we brought out all the decorations bought over many years and retired off a few which had finally gone way beyond tatty. Some of these had been with us since we first got married and believe me, that was a long, long time ago.
Last night as we decorated the tree, I thought about how different this tree is to those we have had in the past – different in shape. This tree is more like those I’ve seen in films. It’s a bit like us as Christians. We’re all followers of Jesus, but we come in different shapes and sizes with different personalities, temperaments and gifts. No-one is the compete package and has all the gifts, which is why we all need to work together in the church and in our community.
Some are good at teaching, others at administrative tasks, some in pastoral caring roles, others are happiest making cups of tea, washing up and doing those behind the scenes jobs that help keep a church running. Have you discoverd your role in your church and community?
Sometimes it exactly those differences that make it hard to get along with other people. Some people just seem to rub us up the wrong way. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at how to deal with those differences.
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