Growing big and strong...

We have a tree in our backyard that is probably over 100 years old. Dusty and I could stand on either side of the trunk, wrap our arms around it, and not even come close to touching fingertips. Just for comparison this is a recent picture of our dog, Tucker, leaning against the tree and baking in the all too rare sunshine. He's no small dog, weighing in at about 80 pounds or so right now, and you can't even see either "side" of the tree.

As I'm writing, the wind is blowing so hard that I just heard our trash can bang down the driveway and whip our back screen door open, slamming it against the side of the house. To my dismay, the lights have even flickered a time or two during the particularly strong gusts and I just added something else to my "to do" list of things that need to be handled. Dusty is in the bed sleeping off a headache and has no idea that Cooper just dove up under his arm for protection or that Tucker saw the opportunity to jump up in our bed and slide himself under the covers.

I walked by the window a few minutes ago and pulled down the blinds to see if the wind was going to blow our enormous tree down on our house any time soon. To my surprise our tree, the largest in the neighborhood, was standing perfectly still as if there were no wind at all. All around it I could see the smaller trees bending and swaying, blowing whichever way the strongest gust blew...

I looked at the Big Tree and admired how it stands tall and strong, somehow remaining absolutely unaffected by what is presently happening to it. It's obviously seen plenty of "seasons" before - both good and bad - and even has some scars to prove it. But its still standing.

When I look around at all the Little Trees, I think how much more growing they have, how much farther they have to go to be like the Big Tree...and all of the sudden I realize that is a perfect picture of what God has been trying to teach me during the last couple days (or weeks). I've been feeling discouraged and depressed...and yet I find myself drawing closer and closer to Him for strength and assurance...which is a great comfort to me.

My eyes fill with tears at the unexpected way He chooses to teach me new truths about myself...I want to be like the Big Tree, I think, still and stable when the circumstances around me beg me to bend and sway. The more "seasons" I go through, the more I'll be unaffected by the storms around me.

And because of times like these...I'm growing big and strong.