Deck the Halls with Boughs of "Folly?"

     ​We didn’t plan to deck the halls with boughs of “folly” this year, but that’s what happened.
     Our oldest grandchildren who usually helped us trim the artificial tree weren’t available. So we tapped three younger, untrained grandkids.
     I turned on Christmas carols, and with more enthusiasm than understanding the kids assembled branches on the tree - but upside down. I hadn’t thought to tell them about that. Then they didn’t quite hear my instructions about color-coded branches, and they positioned the shortest ones on the bottom - an upside down tree. No longer was I calm and bright. One of them had to dive underneath and replace lower branches with longer ones.
     A competition heated up over who would hang the star upon the highest bough. While others placed ornaments, one sneaked up a step stool and set the star. Any joy to the world I’d felt evaporated. I told him, “You got to do that, so the others get to arrange the manger scene.” That was the next big prize in their minds. I thought of a number between one and ten, and the one who came closest went first in the setup, followed by the other.
​     Somehow the tree turned out looking better than Charlie Brown’s, and we’d made a good memory. But conflicts and mess-ups reminded me that in everything, even Christmas decorating, we need Jesus to teach us how to love each other. We need a savior.