I’m a big fan of trees. My yard is covered in them. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from them over the years. Being a lifelong Georgia girl, I grew up surrounded by pine trees. They are evergreen, but they aren’t very sturdy. A good ice storm will take them out like a bowling ball knocking down pins.
The trees that surround me these days are hardwoods, mostly oaks. They provide amazing shade in the summer and actually help keep our house cooler. In the fall, their leaves are so brilliantly colored, that they seem hand painted by God himself. They are horribly messy when they fall, covering our yard and filling up our gutters, but I’ve found over the years, that most of the beautiful things in life are messy.
Everything from puppies, to babies, to relationships, if they affect our hearts and souls, they tend to be messy, but oh so worth it.
I am also in awe of the fact that the mighty oak tree comes from a tiny acorn. When you hold one up next to the other, it doesn’t seem possible. Acorns remind me of the possibilities of dreaming big.
I recently learned a new lesson from some trees. Yes, I love them when they are green and when they are brilliantly colored. I can even appreciate them when they are bare in the winter. They remind me that we all go through seasons of dormancy, but deep roots along with the change of seasons, guarantee that we will again produce beauty.
But, what about dead trees? Do they have anything to teach?
Jekyll Island has a beach called Driftwood Beach, where hundreds of trees that have been uprooted by storms or other calamities, land on a particular point on the island. Once they are there, the sun bleaches them to almost white. You would think that there’s no way a bunch of dead trees would have anything to offer. much less become a tourist attraction.
But, the sun, the salt and the sea have made these trees into works of art. They each become individual sculptures of sorts. Tiny beach creatures make their homes in them. Tourists come from all over to see them. Children climb on them. People even get married with them as a backdrop.
God has taken something that man would deem lifeless and useless, put His hands on it and made it into something spectacular.
He does the same with us. We can put something tiny like an acorn, in His hands and He can create something mighty like an oak tree. He uses seasons in our lives to sometimes produce much beauty and shade like those leaves. Sometimes He leads us into a season of dormancy and yet other times, when we think it’s all over and we have nothing left to give, He creates the most unexpected, unique beauty of all, like those trees on Driftwood Beach and quite frankly, I stand amazed.
Some sun bleached trees reminded me of the limitless possibilities we have when we place our lives in God’s hands, no matter our age or stage in life. Perhaps you needed reminding too!
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
