Just wondering - how did I not notice trees for so long?? The last 15 years or so have made me so aware of trees and the different growth rates, and I have fallen in love with trees. Anytime I see some being topped or cut down I just mourn. Recently, in a storm, I walked through our neighborhood and saw a big tree that had split down the middle. It was a big mature Bradford pear, and it was in full color when it split. There were beautiful dark red and green leaves all over it, but it was hanging across an electric line and being supported by the two utility poles in the yard. It was such a sad sight, that tree half hanging over the wires and half still standing. The inner tree wood was so bright but somewhat stained by the recent rains. It was just sad. What it did was make me think: would I be that kind of tree when storms hit me? Would I just split down the middle and hang on something or someone nearby? The trees that seem to make it the best are the slow growers, the oaks and walnuts. We have two oaks in our side yard, and they have been there over five years, and they are just this year beginning to have some shape and height. They even showed some fall color finally!! I have been so impatient about them - couldn't wait for them to have some pretty fall leaves, and then when they did I was so surprised!! At the other side of our yard we have a huge walnut, probably over 100 years old, which has weathered some storms. Apparently it has been struck by lightning at least once, yet it still grows leaves and walnuts and comes out every spring. It hit me that those old trees, which take so long to grow and are so slow to show us their "stuff" are the ones that made it; that Bradford pear and others like it were so quick to grow large and cover themselves with pretty blooms and leaves that they outgrew their trunks, and they are the ones that we find split up after storms come through. They weren't patient enough to grow large enough to hold all that beauty, and consequently old Bradford pears are rare indeed.
The lessons I always hope to keep from these trees are these: I hope to remember to grow slowly is not a shame, because often growing quickly doesn't allow roots and sturdy trunk growth. I should grow slowly and let God shape me as I grow. That way when storms do come I will be strong and continue to produce fruit after the storms are gone. The other lesson I hope to remember is to be patient and wait for the Lord. This does not come naturally - I am a very impatient person, and so I have to constantly remind myself of this truth. However, in the times when I am patient it is amazing that these are the times I am rewarded and see much more benefit than when I try to force things to happen. God is patient, and He is patient in teaching me. I am so glad - I have failed so often in these lessons, but He can even use trees to remind me of what I need to know!!
