The Most Expensive Christmas Tree Ever

The $500 Christmas tree. (I’m sure you can tell!)

Three years ago, our annual Christmas tree-finding tradition changed forever. In early December, Randy and I always went in search of the perfect tree. We bundled up in our warmest clothes, filled a thermos with hot chocolate, packed ourselves and dogs into the car, and headed for the mountains. We’d never had any problems—and didn’t anticipate any this time.

We drove several miles up a snowy, forest service road in our 4-wheel drive SUV. The snow didn’t seem deep, and we followed tracks on the road from other vehicles. Randy commented that there wasn’t any place to turn around, but I didn’t see any reason for concern. Then we were stuck. We couldn’t move forward or backwards. Randy tried all the usual tricks—rocking the car back and forth, gunning it, using pine branches under the tires for traction, and digging snow from around the tires. Nothing worked. (Except we managed to cut a tree—a gangly “Charlie Brown” type that we found on the side of the road. We were determined not to go home empty-handed!)

The sun slipped quickly behind the mountains and it was pitch dark and cold, with temps plummeting into single-digits. O.K., we need Plan B, we told ourselves. The thought of spending the night in our car with our dogs, Kramer and Kosmo, wasn’t appealing. Fortunately, Randy was able to get cell coverage long enough to call a friend.

Two hours later, headlights from the approaching tow truck illuminated the darkness. Only problem was they couldn’t get our car unstuck, so the car and illustrious tree stayed on the mountain until the next day. Good news: we got home safely to our cozy, warm home on a sub-zero night after being stuck for nearly six hours. Bad news: this was the most expensive tree ever! The $5 permit for our hand-cut tree eventually racked up a bill of $500 after all was said and done. Ouch! Randy decided instead of topping the tree with an angel or star, we would use a price tag instead. Lesson learned: next year we would buy our tree at Hank’s tree lot in town.

Our son Jeremy decorating the “tree lot” tree the following year.

After Christmas, we took down the homely $500 tree and “planted” it in the snow in our back yard. I saw it from our kitchen window for the duration of winter—and when I was tempted to cringe at our foolishness, I was reminded of God’s grace and mercy to us, in spite of our many mistakes and shortcomings. That we could even smile and laugh about our latest misadventure was proof that God is at work in each of us. And isn’t that really what Christmas is about?

May the Lord bless your Christmas season with peace, love, and laughter!