Let is Shine through Her Smile... Words of my Heart by A Texas Artist Laurie Pace

Let it Shine with Her Smile...

Last night Terry and I went to visit close friends to help put up their ten foot Christmas tree. The Mrs. of the family had surgery recently and is still couch bound. The Mr. was not looking forward to the job as it had never in all their years of marriage fallen to him to decorate the tree.

I was petrified I would put something in the wrong place as Mr. brought out a huge container about four feet in length and two feet wide and three feet tall.  He popped open the lid and behold inside was a bounty of ornaments gently laid and stored. If there was one ornament, there were a thousand or more.

Slowly the men righted the tree and wedged it into place and our work lay ahead for the three of us.  A fire burned in the fireplace toasting the room enough that I pulled off my sweat shirt.  It was a work out for sure. It took about three hours to get all those ornaments on the tree. Mr asked Mrs repeatedly if we had enough hung yet. Her reply was always the same, "I put all of them on every year and they all need to be hung."

With almost every ornament Mrs had a story to share about a time or memory in life.  Even while she was in pretty bad pain, she smiled and relaxed more with every bauble hung on that tree. 

She directed us like an orchestra guiding her favorites to a position she could enjoy.

There were simple shiny colored balls that were fillers to catch light on the inside branches. There were huge 4 to 6 inch balls that hung in various places to fill in spots where needed.  It was fun as we danced around the ladder and went from high to low and back to high, weaving colors and ornaments left and right. There were small candy canes and three foot candy canes. There were a multitude of Santa Clause figures and ornaments in all shapes and sizes.

We left around eight last night. All lights were off in the house and the tree glowed with its bounty. Mrs had fallen asleep on the couch with a smile on her face. 

Words from my Heart,
Laurie

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.  Daniel 12:3