What the Living Christmas Tree Has Meant to Me

This is a devotion I wrote in 2009 for the 25th Anniversary of the Living Christmas Tree.

1 Corinthians 12:4

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

Finding a gift under the Christmas tree is an exciting part of the Christmas season. Every year we receive gifts from friends and family, but God has also given everyone a unique gift. There is no range or limit to the gifts God gives and finding this gift may not always be obvious or easily apparent. These gifts can be revealed to us in different or unusual ways so we must remain vigilant because we will find our gift in unexpected places.

                 I found my gift at a presentation of First Baptist Huntsville’s Living Christmas Tree.  In 1995, minister of music, Harry Wooten, hired a harpist from Nashville to play for the Living Christmas Tree. The theme of the Tree that year was “The Holly and the Ivy” and featured a solo harp and flute. Carol McClure, a prominent harpist in the Southeast, accompanied the choir and performed her own solo arrangements. I was currently in the fifth grade and had been wanting to play the harp since the age of three but my family had struggled with finding a teacher. I came to one of the Tree rehearsals and was introduced to Carol McClure. We set up our first lesson that weekend in her room at the Radisson Hotel. My family drove me to Nashville, Tennessee most every Tuesday night after that for the next seven years, to study with Carol McClure until I graduated from high school and left for Birmingham to major in Harp performance at Samford University.

                Our responsibility does not end with finding our gift; everyone needs to accept the gift God has ordained from them and be willing to use their gift to give back. Carol McClure returned in 1997 to play with the First Baptist Orchestra at the Christmas presentation held in the Fellowship Hall that year because of renovations in the Sanctuary. This time, I played alongside my teacher and I have played the harp at every performance of the Living Christmas Tree ever since.

                During this season of gifts, it is important to remember our own gift to give back to God. Our gift, service, or activity may not be the same but they each come from the Lord. What gift will you put under the Christmas Tree this year?

Psalm 150: Praise God with the lute and harp!