One of many "Tree" entries to come...

I love trees, they've always fascinated me.

Psalm 1:1-3 talks about a righteous man being like a tree planted by the water (go read it).

One thing about a tree is that life happens around it. Sometimes the tree provides life, other times it contains life and other times it shares life; but one thing that is certain is that sometimes life just happens around the tree.

Think of a Christmas tree farm. Imagine the one tree, if you can, in the middle of the farm. Each day it wonders when it will get it's turn to celebrate the holiday inside someone's home. The day, unfortunately never comes.

Then the tree remembers that all of the trees that aren't used to celebrate, get chopped down and provide warmth by being used as firewood. Again the tree waits in anticipation, only to find that, again... no one uses him.

The tree then continues to grow and stand alone in the empty field. The tree feels abandoned by those that are supposed to care for him. The empty field is soon filled with smaller trees that will grow into beautiful Christmas trees to be sold in the coming year. While these trees are being cared for and life is being showered on them, the lonely tree just watches as life goes on around him.

Fast forward to the Christmas season; we find that the tree is huge and gorgeous, by far the most exquisite specimen at the local Christmas tree farm. The lonely tree, although it is beautiful, has felt rejected for so long, he wonders why even bother thinking of the season. Finally, a large truck pulls close to the giant tree. After some painful cutting, the tree is loaded onto the truck and transported to the middle of the town. There, amidst all the people, traffic is stopped, the mayor is there, the children are there, the ministers and families all stand around as the tree is decorated. Finally, the tree is adorned with lights. The entire town, if only for one night, stands around the magnificent tree and sings carols.

Sometimes jobs that we deserve pass us by, our friends and family seem to leave us, and we feel as though there is no reason to go on. We never know what God may be preparing us for, how big the task may be, or how much we may mean to someone else when that time comes.