(I wrote this a few weeks ago.)

This morning “Colton’s guys” arrived to put the Christmas lights on the front of the house. For the next hour or so, I will hear them moving the ladders around and walking on the roof.

We used to do our own Christmas lights. We had a one story house that looked perfect with a string of lights going across the front. It only took at 12’ ladder to get them ready for night time shining. In fact, many years we didn’t even use a ladder. John installed small cup hooks in the soffit; I could use a rake to lift the lights and hang the cords on the hooks. Smart!!

But our new home (that’s a whole other story) has four peaks across the front. Gorgeous to look at but horrible to hang Christmas lights on. For the first 4 years we lived here we just put our “joy” sign out, put some lights across the fence and called it “done.” But last year, I put out a call on our community Facebook page for lighting company recommendations and heard about “Colton.”

A few years back, John and I had found some “fancy” Christmas lights on sale in a store in Illinois. We decided that they would be perfect for our new home and we had a fun day of driving across country roads to purchase lights at three different stores. It was fun and we thought we had won a great prize. We had fancy lights that were going to awe everyone.

Back to today. As we thought about hanging lights, those peaks looked higher and higher. And to get a ladder up there meant that we would have to balance it on a small area of level ground with the angle of the ladder being very steep. We looked at those peaks and at our boxes of “fancy” lights and sat and sat and then Christmas was over; it was too late to hang the lights. The lights stayed in their boxes and the ladders in the workshop.

So last year we caved and had Colton and his crew install our not-so-cheap fancy lights on those beautiful peaks. The crew used ladders but they also walked on our roof (something I would never do!). It cost us some cash but the look was so pretty. Then we discovered the problems. The “fancy” lights did not behave as one when linked together and the switch to change any of their functions was on the roof. We had some strings that did one thing and others did something totally different. It was a little like watching a pre-school class perform a Christmas carol for their parents.

It was interesting to be sure, but not at all what we had envisioned. And then we had a couple of “Florida” rain days – heavy and windy. After the storm Colton and his guys returned the lights that had come off the roof to their correct place. But many of the lights stopped working or were very dim. Again, not the Christmas delight that we had envisioned in our minds.

After Colton’s team took down the lights we could see that many of the bulbs were filled with water; they were ruined after one season. Sad.

We asked Colton what he suggested and today his guys are installing new lights (not cheap) that come with a 4-year warranty. And the work that they are doing will cost us a little bit too.

Some of you are telling me, “Jill, give it up. Christmas lights aren’t that important.” That is true and we have done without them in previous years; that is one choice. Maybe another year it will be a choice that we have to make. But not this year.

Yes, it is only the 20th of November. But, as I have told Colton, we would love to get them lights up as early as possible and we want to leave them up until at least Jan 7th. (I promise that we do not turn them on until Thanksgiving night or later.) We like Christmas lights so we will sacrifice to have them. I love sitting outside on a chilly evening (it does too get chilly in Pensacola!) and look at the lights. I love driving around and looking at the lights on other houses and on stores and in parks. For me, Christmas lights are one of the holiday decorations that I look forward to enjoying.

We gave up installing our lights and we gave up on the “fancy” lights that we had taken care to purchase and we hired a pro so that we could still enjoy Christmas lights on those gorgeous peaks.

Let’s start thinking now about this next month and let’s try to be realistic.

• Maybe the store bought cookies are just fine.
• Cracker Barrel and other stores offer full holiday meals at a price that might be more expensive than making it yourself but you don’t have to MAKE IT YOURSELF. 😃
• Green is a gift that always fits.
• Neighbors would love to receive a basket of apples and oranges just as much as that time-consuming loaf of homemade bread.
• Kids love the boxes that the gifts come in. Maybe fewer toys and more boxes this year?
• A family game or movie and popcorn in the family room is a welcome activity on Christmas afternoon.

Be honest: Our earthly resources of time, energy and cash are limited. As we tell the kiddos: “Let’s make good decisions today.”

Love,

Jill (just one of God’s kids)

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Mark 6:30-31