A Christmas Tree

Berta and her beautiful family

How many of you have Christmas trees?  You probably could hardly wait for Thanksgiving so the tree could go up.  I used to be that way but now that I live in Guatemala, I have adapted to the "no one is ever in a hurry to do anything" way of life.  So we waited a couple of more days.  Our last 2 Christmases in the States we decided to put up the old, fake tree we bought when Jack and Jon were little - the one we put up with kid friendly ornaments that they could mess up so the real one would stay nice, and use the money we saved to help a family in need (God started preparing me for Guatemala long before I knew it!)  This year, our dilemma was more about which fake tree we could afford.  They start out at "Is that even a Christmas tree?" and go to "There is no way we could/would pay that much for a plastic tree."  We looked around a bit and decided on one that was only $25 and I wouldn't have to sit on the floor to decorate.  Before we went out to buy the tree,  Mavelyn and Wendy came over.  They saw some of our Christmas decorations and we got to talking about Christmas here vs. the States and what people do etc.  We found out that they have never had a Christmas tree - not even a bush or tree cut from the side of the road.   We weren't completely surprised given that they live in poverty and trees are probably a luxury item for people but it made us a little sad.  Then they asked us if they could come over and help us decorate ours when we got it.  These girls have a hard time asking us to use our bathroom let alone ask us to let them help decorate our tree.  We decided to forget the tree we were going to get and buy one half the price so we could get one for them too.

Jennifer 

Mavelyn, Hamilton & Josemar

We wanted it to be a special time so we made dinner and had pollo frito and papas (fried chicken and french fries) at their request since they don't eat it that often, another luxury.  It was a great time!  I can't tell you how neat it was to watch a 15 year old and her younger siblings decorate a Christmas tree for the first time. The best part was that we didn't tell them about their tree until they were ready to leave.  We gave everyone a wrapped "present" which were the ornaments and lights and let the oldest two girls open the tree.   It was one of those "Wow" moments for each of us.  I know trees aren't that big of a deal but it was a small way for us to brighten the Christmas for a precious family.

P.S.  Mavelyn came over the next day to tell us how much they love the tree and only turn the lights on for a few minutes at night so they don't raise their $5/month electric bill.

Wendy

Carefully opening the paper so not to rip it