The Christmas Pickle

Looking at this picture, you may be thinking, “What is that?”

Well…. it’s a christmas ornament. Although it could be classified as a cucumber, I like to think it is a pickle. (Who doesn’t like pickles anyway?) Let me tell you the story…

Once a month, a whole bunch of teens go out and participate in an organization called Teen Serve. Basically, it pairs homeschooled teens with elderly people, single parents, or anyone else who is in need of assistance. The teens are given jobs ranging from cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, and outdoor work (such as mowing lawns or trimming bushes) to bathing dogs and cleaning out refrigerators. You never know what you will be doing. Occasionally, the people won’t have much for you to do, and you end up with a lot of spare time on your hands. Our group had an extra hour, so our leader took us to a park to pick up trash. Sending the boys on their way, me, another girl, and out team leader set out to find some trash. Apparently this park was one of the designated places for Christmas tree pick ups. Along with two pickles, we also found a golden disco ball ornament. I have only one question:

“Why put a pickle on your tree?”

Later on in the day, we cleaned out someone’s fridge. It amused me how many types of Pickles we pulled out. The pickle now hangs from my ceiling fan to remind me to pray for our Teen Serve recipients. Theme of the Month? Pickles.

~Update~
The Christmas pickle is a Christmas tradition in the United States. A decoration in the shape of a pickle is hidden on a Christmas tree, with the finder receiving either a reward or good fortune for the following year. There are a number of different origin stories attributed to the tradition, but it was primarily thought to have originated in Germany. This has since been disproved and is now thought to be an American tradition from the late 19th century.
Thanks Aunt Suzie, and Wikipedia for the explanation!

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