I watched a tree today; a tall pine tree swaying in the wind. Looking at it, you wouldn’t have known what season it was in. It could have just as well been summer as it was winter. It doesn’t change much over time, it just grows. It was a cold day in January, but the sun was shining and there it was, bending and yielding to the gusts that swept over it. It stood grounded, rooted, steady, and yet it bent at great lengths without breaking. It’s massive stature was graceful in shifting wind… it was beautiful.

I want to be like that tree. I want to be who I am, only stronger with every passing age. I want to hold firm onto Who I am grounded so that the changing of the seasons doesn’t discourage me, the cold air numb me, nor the hot air wither my soul. I long to bend in the gales of life with grace and strength.

Right now, I’m somewhere between a tumbleweed and a sapling because roots are my struggle. My soul craves rich soil in which to flourish and thrive, but my life has been wrought with tornadoes that carve and volcanoes that suffocate the landscapes into which I desire to grow. Contrary to the innate nature of the tree, I fear growing roots. Something that can bring life to a tired spirit, solice in the storms of life and feed a hungry soul has come to be something entirely different – something detrimental to my well-being awaiting the next earthquake to cause the ground beneath me to fall away. But then I look at the tree…

The tree didn’t ask to be planted. It had no say in the matter. It was simply put there and arms outstretched began to root itself into the ground and grow. I’ve never heard it complain about the weather or watched it snap in two as Summer storms blow through. It doesn’t worry if it will have water or sun, good days or bad, sunshine or storms… it just patiently and beautifully grows.

Yes, I want to be like that tree allowing God to plant me where He will – rooted in Him – arms outstretched, no complaints, no worries, bending gracefully in the storms and whispering love through my boughs in the sunshine… to just patiently and beautifully grow. That is my desire in the year to come and for all my days ahead.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in Him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.” ~Jeremiah 17:7-8