2020 Tree

2020 has been a tough road to say the least. Yesterday, our family went to cut down our Christmas Tree. This is a fun tradition, an outing we look forward to every year followed by an afternoon of decorating and Christmas music! The first place we went to was out of trees for the year...WHAT?? That has never happened in the history of Denlinger tree hunting! The second place, well let's just say there was not a lot to choose from. As we strolled through the open fields, we joked about the dilapidated, ugly, broken, underdeveloped trees that remained. Not to mention the numerous times one of us almost face-planted over the many stumps left from those who went before us. We were left with two choices; make the best of it and just pick one or drive 30 minutes in the opposite direction in hopes of something better. With a dog, 2 teens and 2 young adults in our midst, driving the 30 minutes was not the better option:)

The tree we settled on has some flaws; its height, shape, and the number of brown needles are the most obvious. When we got home and took a closer look, we saw more problems in this tree (as you can see from the side view below). But, thank goodness the problems and disappointments with this tree and the choices before us didn't overtake the beauty that can be made not just in the physical {tree from the front view below} itself but in the experiences and memories made. I am so thankful for the many blessings this year has brought despite the dilapidated, ugly, and broken things around us. It is all a matter of perspective. We can easily get caught up looking at things from the side view, only seeing the hard and get frustrated, impatient, angry, and critical. This day (and this year) reminded me to see beauty can come out of the disappointments and the unexpected. Sometimes none of the choices before us are favorable but blessing can be found. Let's choose to see the good, choose to see that God will make beauty from the ashes of 2020.

Side View

front view

so much beauty, no ashes here!  

So much laughter and so many memories made in one day!