The Twelfth Day of Advent My True Love Gave to Me...

On the twelfth day of Advent my true love gave to me...an eight foot tall Christmas Tree!

So, for those of you who have been following our search for the perfect Christmas tree saga, (click on that link for previous story)  our search ended today.  Yep, we went back to the woods in search of the perfect Christmas tree again, 

and my first thought as we began our trek into the woods was, 

"So many trees, Lord! Lead me to the perfect tree for us, please!"

and as I wove my way around through the scrubby bushes and trees, trying to avoid the cactus and other danger spots,

I continued to pray..."Lord, I know this may seem like a silly thing to You, and I know You have much more important things on Your mind today, but I just need a little direction here and I'll leave You alone so You can take care of the real issues that matter."

My hubby tried to keep up with me as I darted through the maze of woods hollering, "I'm over here! I'm headed that way..."Watch out for the cactus! Okay, I'm going this way now..."...and finally there it was....the tallest, fullest, prettiest tree I could see...

So hubby hurried to catch up with me, agreed that it would be the perfect tree, and proceeded to cut it down before I could change my mind!

And then we looked around us, and looked at each other and said, "Now, how do we find our way back out of here???"  That's when I realized that we had wound around so many different pathways and trees that we really hadn't noticed how far off the real path we had gone...so I had to whisper up another little prayer to the Lord..."Help!  We're lost and need Your direction to get back out of here!"

Hubby picked up the tree and just started walking in the general direction from which we had come,

and I picked up the top end of the tree and tried to keep up with him, tripping over stumps and bushes and avoiding the cacti, and praying he knew where he was going...and eventually, God helping us, we made it, safe and sound back to the car and on our way home!!! Hooray!  When we got home, we measured the tree, and realized it was going to be at least a foot too tall for our living room...but, well, it IS the perfect tree...and we'll figure out what to cut off tomorrow when we set it up.  For today, it needs to stay outside and let the bugs fall out before we take it inside.... (we live in Florida, so that is probably a good idea!)

So, after that ADVENTure, I decided I needed to have a cup of tea and calm down for awhile...

One of our Thanksgiving guests had brought a hostess gift of a box of "Scripture Tea", so I thought this would be a great opportunity to open it and try it out...

and then I took a closer look at the scripture tag on the tea bag, and this is what is said:

"Be anxious for nothing!

Let your requests be known to God!"

Philippians 4:6

And I thought, "How like our God!"  Here He was confirming to me that it was perfectly all right to ask for His assistance in looking for the perfect Christmas tree today!  He wants His children to look to Him for all things, big and small, because as we see Him work in the small things of life, it increases our faith to trust Him more for the BIG things of life.  He doesn't want His children to be anxious and stressful and worried about any of the details of life...and I, for one, am most grateful for His enduring patience and love toward me, His little child.

How about you?  What lessons in faith and trust are YOU learning during this ADVENT season?  Pay attention to the small things that God helps you with, and it will help you to trust Him more with the really BIG things in your life too.