Most of the time, the ornaments we hang on our Christmas trees are just that, ornaments. But sometimes, they have more meaning behind them. Sometimes the mean more than Christmas to us. This is one of those times.
This tree might be small. And it might be a little bare. Hell, it’s not even my tree. It’s my sister’s old one. But the ornaments on it mean a whole heck of a lot to me. These ornaments were purchased after Christmas three years ago. They were marked 90% off so I bought SO many of them. I bought the ornaments, decorations, and a bunch of other stuff that was marked down. Why? Because I thought by the next year I would be living on my own, with my own tree to decorate, and I wanted to save money by getting them on sale.
Things don’t always work out how we plan them. Actually, more often than not, God hears our plans and laughs. He has a plan for us. And it’s grander than any plan we could ever imagine for ourselves. Which is what happened to me. See, I thought I would be living on my own soon after I bought these ornaments. But that didn’t happen. I had a great job, I was paid really well, and things were going great. I knew I would be moving out of my parents soon after I bought these ornaments. But that didn’t happen. I would be at my parent’s house for two more Christmases and those ornaments lived in the trunk of my car.
The summer after I bought these ornaments, my job was suddenly taken from me. Without any warning, without my knowledge, and without so much as an apology from the people who took it. It was a blessing in disguise because for the 6 months before that, I was crying every day on my hour drive from work. But that wasn’t in my plan. So I didn’t understand why it had happened. I was a hard worker, I devoted more time than I should have to that company, and it was all for not. Because I worked for people who did not appreciate me, who wanted a scapegoat for their business failing, and who thought it would just be easier to blame me than to own up to their insane amount of mistakes.
What I thought was a terrible day in my life turned out to be such a blessing. In the weeks I was looking for work, my Dad got really sick and had it not been for me being home during the week, things might not have turned out so well. I also was so stressed and so sad working at that place that it was the shove I needed from God to get out of there and find somewhere else to work. I probably would have stayed in that ridiculously toxic environment had it not been for God screaming at me that it was time to leave.
Flash-forward to now. I work at a great job and have been here for almost two years. There hasn’t been one time that I have cried because of work. I no longer live with my parents, and I was FINALLY able to hang those ornaments I bought so long ago. Hanging them on that tree was such a surreal feeling. I didn’t know I would feel that way when I got them out to put on the tree. It was just a sense of accomplishment in a way. It told me that even though I went through such a dark time, I pulled through. That even though there are people out there who don’t want to see you succeed, there are MORE people out there who do.
What I want you to take from this is that it’s okay to go through those dark times. Just keep fighting because things will get better. The ornaments WILL get out of your trunk one day and get to be hung on a Christmas Tree like they deserve.
