So let’s just say decorating for Christmas is not my favorite thing to do. I do not have that artsy ability nor would Martha Stew art approve of some of my crea tions for the holidays. Rachael Ray or Ree D rumm ond might just put me in decorator jail for my lack of talent and attempts at decorating anything! This is why I have left the job of decorating for Christmas (or any other holiday for that fact) to the wife and/or the kids.

I do have a job though. It is a very important one, I think. As a matter of fact, without me completing my task, no decorating would take place! My most important job is…bringing in the totes from the garage and barn that have all the most essential decorations packed delicately within them.

I put a big shelf/storage rack in the garage this year that would hold the totes that have the spring and Easter decoration in them as well as the fall and Thanksgiving ones. And of course, all the Christmas decorations are on the shelves with the oversized totes stacked (3 of them) neatly on the adjacent wall.

My job is to pull the totes down, make sure they are really Christmas decorations inside (because that is what is written on the tote) and neatly and in an organized manner, lay the totes out in the garage for inspection and use.

There is a tote that has nothing but tree decorations in it. These are the decorations the kids have made at church and school over the years. Our yearly dated decoration and the usual seasonal decorations (snowflakes, candy canes, colored balls, cranberry strings) with an angel to go on top of the tree, are all found within this tote.

A couple of the totes contain house decorations. The wall hangings, poinsettias, holly and evergreen wreaths are all within these totes. There are the toys that sing the winter songs as well as the Christmas carols. There is a candle holder with candles with a few scented Christmas candles. And, of course, there is going to be three or four manger sets made of ceramic, wood and one of glass.

There is one tote that has not been used in quite a while. It is about 20 years old. The kids’ mom and I started collecting these decorations. It is the nostalgic ceramic village. There is the General Store, Post Office, Church, a Police station and couple of houses with a barn. These are not the little miniature pieces (2” tall), these are 8”-10” tall and about 8”-10” square. We put them out with the lights shining through them and the cotton snow on the ground. We don’t use them much because it takes so much space but when put out, it is so beautiful.

Then there are the miscellaneous totes with a hodge-podge of Christmas in them. Not any less important but it doesn’t really fit a major theme with the other decorations other than being Christmas. Yes, there is a lot of Christmas to put out at the Perkins’ house.

And as the Christmas goes up, something must be done with the fall and thanksgiving decorations. Yep, if you haven’t guessed, they go in a tote marked fall decorations. After they are placed in the tote, I remove them from the house and take out to the garage and neatly stack them on the storage shelves, taking note where the spring & Easter decorations are located.

In a month we will un-decorate the tree, walls, tables, entryway and everything else in the house that says Christmas. The empty totes will be brought in and the Christmas decorations will be carefully packed away. The totes will be toted out to the garage and put back on the shelves, forgotten about for about 11 months. Then the process will be repeated.

Christmas in a tote or totes. I hope we haven’t reduced Christmas to a stack of totes stored in the garage. It can only be Christmas as long as the decorations are out of the totes and December 26th everything goes back in the totes to be stored away until next year.

So this year, may I make a suggestion? Keep Christmas all year. No I don’t mean keep a tree up all year or the yard decorations. Although that is tempting…No, something much simpler. How about keeping that Christmas wreath on the wall, a poinsettia on the table or a manger on the counter? Just a little something as a reminder that Christmas is celebrated once a year but lived every day! This is just a way to remember how our salvation started and keep Christmas alive all year. “She brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7) Tote Carrying Preacher Bro. Tim