Tree of Grace: This was the greatest success this past Advent. Yes we did get a late start and yes this is a late post, but it turned out so beautiful and will be a yearly tradition thanks to the idea from the Czarka family. On Christmas Eve we all gathered around and we explained to the kids this tree is to give away and all the sacrifices and prayers on this tree are to go to someone who needs some love so without hesitation Tristan said this tree needs to go to Ms. Sue because she doesn't have a mommy, a daddy, a brother, a sister, a son or a daughter. She doesn't have anybody she must be sad and need some love. So without hesitation we said you are so right Tristan that is who this Tree of Grace is for. Ms. Sue is a housebound lady that lives three doors down. We have adopted her and make her special treats and visit her. We have only known her for a few months, but the kids bring such delight and happiness to her. So here is the letter below and we are doing something similar for Lent that I will explain in another post later. This was awesome! When we took the tree to her on Christmas day late in the evening at 6pm. She came to the door with a big smile on her face just at the sight of the kids and then as she read the letter she was so moved and said she will have the tree as long as she lives and have it up all year. How cool a little reminder of Gods great love for her always to motivate her in her solitude. This is the letter we gave her.
Merry Christmas!
Dear Ms. Sue this tree is for you! It is filled with lots of love and grace too! We have spent the past four weeks of Advent decorating this tree with ornaments. This tree is very special because it is not decorated in just one day, but over time. We only put an ornament on when we have said a prayer or made a sacrifice (listening to mom and dad, not hitting brothers and sisters, sharing etc…). When we do these little acts of love we get to put one ornament on the tree and the tree then becomes one big prayer filled with grace that we give to you. There is only one recipient each year for the tree of grace and we prayed about it and Tristan (our five year old boy) said he thinks this tree should go to Ms. Sue. He thought it would make you happy and we hope that it does, but know that this tree is more than what meets the eye because it is more than just a tree and ornaments it is a tree of grace filled with grace for you! This is our gift to you. The tree will eventually some day be thrown away, but the grace and the prayer that we give to you in this tree will never pass! God Bless You and We Hope that you have a Merry Christmas! We also made homemade cinnamon rolls. We started at 5:30am this morning making the dough! They are yummy yummy!
Love,
The O’Neils
Branden, Lauri, Tristan, Annaliese, Gavin, Finnian
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