Pickle Jars & Charlie Brown Christmas Trees

As you know, we are in the process of adopting again. Back in September, we began collecting money in a pickle jar (thanks to a trend my friend Amy began on her blog) as our first step of faith knowing that God was calling us to adopt again. It has touched my heart to see our children wanting to help fill that pickle jar! Kade pushed & pushed for me to have a garage sale. Reluctantly, I did, & don't you know we filled that pickle jar enough to pay for our homestudy! The faith of a child is a beautiful thing!! Bless his heart, he turns this house upside down on a regular basis finding loose change. He even finds change on the playground & comes running home with it. Kaya has joined in & when I get change at the store, she immediately says, "In jar!!" And then there was Kaelee...she's my school teacher in training, so I asked her if she would make a sign for the pickle jar. I'm thinking "PICKLE JAR", but she comes marching in with the jar all decked out saying our favorite family slogan, "O'Hana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten." Oh, my heart.

So, are you wondering yet what in the world our pickle jar has to do with a Charlie Brown Christmas tree? I'm getting there...hang with me. Saturday, our family headed out for one of this momma's favorite traditions: picking out the Christmas tree. We go to a wonderful local place where we get to go on a wagon ride and enjoy hot chocolate & cookies. Our goal this year was to NOT get a tree that was too tall. Out in that big field, they tend to not look that big, but we always end up getting one that is too tall, which of course is also more expensive. Well, we got out to the field & couldn't decide exactly how tall each tree was. It began to get really, really cold, so we decided to head back to the barn & look at the trees that were already cut & priced. Usually you can find a pretty nice one...they just pre-cut some from some of the fields that only have a few trees left. The kids were so cold that they left us to pick one while they went in to have hot chocolate. Let's just say that my definition of a Charlie Brown tree has nothing really to with size, but everything to do with the fact that it's a tree that no one wants. I'm a rather nostalgic person, & I always remember my grandma having these short, fat Christmas trees that were more round than triangular in shape. Yep, I found a tree that was so fat, no top, & a far cry from my usual "perfect" fir. When the kids came out, they were pretty much, um, horrified! Once it had been shoved through that netting-thingy & strapped to the top of our truck, Kyler did not hesitate to tell me that it looked like a giant turd! Ye of little faith....

Does this look like a turd?

We are praying for our pickle jar to overflow so that we can bring home our little boy. Where some might see the "unwanted" or "the least of these", I see the potential for something that is going to bring beauty & a special twinkle into our family. There you have it: Pickle Jars & Charlie Brown Christmas Trees! :o) Treasures just waiting to be discovered!