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| Our garage after three trees fell on it during the storm. |
The spring of 2011 was a doozie. April showers brought much more than May flowers that year. Weeks of rain cause the ground to become so saturated that when an actual storm came through with high winds, all the trees surrounding our home fell.
We stood and watched from our windows as tree after tree toppled from the force of the driving winds. In slow motion they fell as each torrent pushed the tree until it's roots would break and unearth themselves. It was surreal.
Although our home was spared, three trees fell on our neighbor's house. Our driveway was destroyed as the root system of a massive pine tree repeatedly heaved upwards causing the asphalt to pitch and buckle. Our poor garage got a bit banged up too. Thankfully though, nobody was hurt.
A year and a half later, during stormy weather, our kids will still sometimes ask if they have to go sit in the basement like they did on the day the trees fell down. (I sometimes say yes, but that is merely for my own twisted pleasure.) There is still some evidence of where a few of those trees once stood. There are scars left yet from the damage to the driveway and garage roof. However, not one of those trees was able to be salvaged. You see, when a full-grown tree falls down you can't just replant it.
Sometimes I feel like a tree. I appear to be strong and thriving, but when the storms of life come, I find myself swaying wildly in the wind. If it weren't for my root system, I'm sure I'd topple too. Other "trees" I know haven't been so fortunate. Sadly, their roots were just under the surface, planted deep enough to sustain them but too shallow to support them.
What most trees need is time to mature. They need to be fed properly, protected from severe weather, even supported at times.
A good gardener knows that good fruit only comes from a tree with a healthy root system. For that reason alone, he takes great pains to plant it in rich soil. He faithfully waters it and provides proper light. He tends to the weeds that threaten to steal the young plant's nutrients.
With his care the roots grow deep into the earth and tree is able to withstand the harshest conditions...storms, extreme heat, bitter cold, even drought.
Have you ever given your root system much thought? Maybe it's time to let God, the master gardener, tend to you. In addition to feeling much stronger, you might even be surprised by what begins to bloom in your life.
Although our home was spared, three trees fell on our neighbor's house. Our driveway was destroyed as the root system of a massive pine tree repeatedly heaved upwards causing the asphalt to pitch and buckle. Our poor garage got a bit banged up too. Thankfully though, nobody was hurt.
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| It's hard to see, but the left side is where the entire root system is standing on end as the tree rests on the neighbor's house. |
A year and a half later, during stormy weather, our kids will still sometimes ask if they have to go sit in the basement like they did on the day the trees fell down. (I sometimes say yes, but that is merely for my own twisted pleasure.) There is still some evidence of where a few of those trees once stood. There are scars left yet from the damage to the driveway and garage roof. However, not one of those trees was able to be salvaged. You see, when a full-grown tree falls down you can't just replant it.
Sometimes I feel like a tree. I appear to be strong and thriving, but when the storms of life come, I find myself swaying wildly in the wind. If it weren't for my root system, I'm sure I'd topple too. Other "trees" I know haven't been so fortunate. Sadly, their roots were just under the surface, planted deep enough to sustain them but too shallow to support them.
What most trees need is time to mature. They need to be fed properly, protected from severe weather, even supported at times.
A good gardener knows that good fruit only comes from a tree with a healthy root system. For that reason alone, he takes great pains to plant it in rich soil. He faithfully waters it and provides proper light. He tends to the weeds that threaten to steal the young plant's nutrients.
With his care the roots grow deep into the earth and tree is able to withstand the harshest conditions...storms, extreme heat, bitter cold, even drought.
Have you ever given your root system much thought? Maybe it's time to let God, the master gardener, tend to you. In addition to feeling much stronger, you might even be surprised by what begins to bloom in your life.
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