They went with my blessing for the same reason we had a caroling party the day after Hal had a cancer biopsy. Satan has a modus operandi he frequently uses on young people: “Christianity is boring. You won’t have any fun. You’ll never find a mate. People will think you’re weird.” Those are all lies. I remember when I was in rebellion as a teen one night the Lord revealed to me that I had believed a lie. I remember being at a party and looking in the mirror. I had a big smile on my face and looked like I was having a great time. Really I was miserable. Unhappy. Feeling guilty. Sad. I looked around me at the other people there and suddenly saw that they were all wearing masks, pretending to have a good time while all the while feeling insecure, worried, unhappy. I wanted to run out of there and I decided I never wanted to “wear a mask” again. Wasn’t there real fun somewhere – relaxed, happy, at peace… righteous?

“Yes there is!” I discovered in college when I got involved with a serious group of Christians. We can have a much better time than the world when we let go of the world’s expectations and behave like believers. As our sons have moved out into the world, they have been surprised to find that many Christians haven’t learned that yet. One of our sons found that the main entertainment for Christians at his college is to go to frat parties, but just not drink or hook up. They don’t seem to realize that Christians can have fun without aping the world. I think of them as “World Light” or “Diet World”! You can pretend you’re having the real thing, but not feel guilty! Lame.

Our guys know better because we have worked really hard to make sure they have had lots of good, clean fun. They know how much more fun it is to have a party without alcohol, but with lots of fellowship, congenial conversation, even singing and games. No guilt. No walk of shame. Like our caroling party. Let me tell you about it.

We invited several families over to go caroling with us. We ended up with 26 young people and about 10 adults. Those not recovering from surgery or pneumonia took off caroling. They started off several blocks away at the Auge’s house – they aren’t getting out much because their 3 year old Bobby is being treated for leukemia. How Bobby enjoyed their singing!. They caroled back to our house, stopping wherever lights were on to sing, chatting and visiting, caring for younger siblings, laughing about the cold. When they got back to our house, everyone grabbed some hot Christmas tea and served themselves a plate of finger food.

For hours that evening, we talked and visited, played games like Catch Phrase, sang, ate great food, prayed together, and cut up. By the end, we were uproariously singing favorite Gilbert & Sullivan songs. It was a blast. Everyone had a great time and it didn’t break up until the wee hours. We built memories. Memories of social events without sin, without guilt, without shame. Fellowship. Food. Joy and Laughter. Fun. All in the presence of our King.

That’s one thing we want our children to take with them as they leave our home: the knowledge that joy and happiness are found in the service of the King, not in the spiritual anesthetic of alcohol. It’s worth staying home and praying for their safety. It’s worth having a party the day after a biopsy!

We’ve done that now for over twenty years. The day we decorate the tree is greatly anticipated in our home. I serve party foods instead of dinner; things like meatballs and cheese ball with crackers, chips and dip, and eggnog. Eggnog is a favorite in our house (non-alcoholic and generally diluted with milk) and the day we decorate the tree is the first time we drink eggnog in the season. My favorite time is when the youngest child sees the tree come in the house. The look of awe is delightful! “Dad’s bringing a tree in the house! What in the world?” their eyes seem to say.

We take time to remind our children that the use of a Christmas tree is not described in Scripture, but it is one way we can show our joy in God’s gift of Jesus Christ to us and remind ourselves of what He has done for us. The fresh evergreen reminds us of eternal life, that there is coming a time when death shall be no more. The lights remind us that Jesus is the light of the world.

Each year as we decorate the tree, we tell the stories behind each ornament. When we unpack the blown glass cornucopias, we tell our children about the year that Hal had been laid off and God’s abundant provision for us. The little Wright flyers remind us of the year our family made a movie about the Wright Brothers and the director’s clapboards of the year our boys’ films did so well in competition. The tiny life jackets remind us of the year we spent weeks at the Lake since Hal was now self-employed and could work from anywhere. The ornaments that others have given us enable us to talk about them and their roles in our lives as well. As we unpack each ornament and place it on the tree, God’s incredible blessings to our family, in hard times and in good, become obvious to all of us. Decades of memories hang on our tree.