Tree Trimming

It's tree-trimming day! Now, I love trees. But as much as I love trees, so much more do I hate trimming them. I mean, trees grow just fine out in the wild, don't they? No problem! So why do we feel like we must "domesticate" the trees in our yards by trimming them?

Still, I have driven down roads with breath-taking scenery flooding my senses, and have given thought to just how much more beautiful that setting would be if those trees were cleaned up a bit. 

I recently moved into a home with quite a few trees in its yard. These trees were mature and beautiful. Ok, more than "mature," those trees were old. So old, in fact, that one of them came tumbling down in a huge thunderstorm we had last spring.  Once I was settled into my new home, I began looking around at things I wanted to do to update the home and make it "mine." In my search, I began to notice that most of my trees had dead branches that needed to be trimmed off. So began the process ...

The most immediate need was to cut branches off that hung dangerously low and close to my roof. The damage to my roof would have been more than I could afford. So, clip ... they were gone. Then I was able to begin trimming some smaller branches that, again, hung too close to the house. Other smaller trees had dead branches as well, and needed trimming. I was pleased with these efforts as my beautiful trees were looking even better!

The next spring, I began to notice something else: I began to notice (to my great surprise) that without all those dead branches, the trees in my yard were growing fuller and even more beautiful than they were before! It seemed like new life was beginning to happen! So this time, I began to snip off all of the little shoots that were now growing out of the main trunks and off the larger branches. The trees (or were they bushes before?) were now beginning to take on beautiful shapes. All those dead branches were gone, and the new life that was forming as a result was being gently guided in an upward direction, thereby reaching its maximum potential and beauty.

And of course, this got me to thinking: isn't that exactly what God does with us? He loves us enough to meet us right where we are. But He also loves us enough to not leave us there! He "trims" off the "dead" stuff ... negative and/or wrong thinking patterns, beliefs, behaviors, attitudes and ideas ... and "shapes" us into the beautiful person He created us to be, fully capable of reaching our "maximum potential" to accomplish the goals for which He created us.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

Where Would You Be Now?

Have you ever wondered what life would have been like if you had followed the dreams you had as a little child?

In sixth grade, our teacher asked us to write a report about what we wanted to be when we grew up. A typical question for that age, intended to plant "seeds" and cause us to begin thinking about the future. I remember as a senior in high school, one night as I lay in bed, meditating back on that question asked so long ago. So much of "life" had passed by throughout those six long years. Having grown from childhood to being an adult, my much more "mature" (lol!) thoughts at that time ran along the lines of: I've lived at home all of my life, how can I possibly know what there is out there to do? There's so very much out there, how can I really know what I want to be? There's so much to try, how do I know what I really like? Will I enjoy my work? Where will I end up? And on and on. I fell asleep as my mind whirled in typical tornado fashion over the prospects that lay ahead.

The confusion I felt at that moment somehow superceeded the confidence I felt as a sixth-grader. Back then, I knew what I wanted to be. I had much more of a grip on my future as a child, than I did as a "mature" senior! And I was headed in that direction! I wanted to be a nurse. A "feminine" profession, you say? Typical for little girls to dream of? Maybe so. But in those days there was not as much stereo-typing going on as there seems to be today. Girls wanted what they wanted, just as did little boys. And I wanted to be a nurse.  I guess even back then a desire to help others was inbred into the very core of my being. Until that fateful assignment, that is.

The classroom filled with students, we all sat on the edge of our chairs as we listened to each report. Some of our classmates were filled with goals and dreams that reached all the way to the sky. Some were a bit more realistic. Some took the assignment as a joke. Others shared their hearts.  One student in particular affected my life forever.  He'll never know how my life changed that day.  His report went something like this: He wanted to be a surgeon. When asked why, he said "because I want to cut a man's leg off and watch it roll into the basket."

Ewwwwwwwww ... all of a sudden, my life-time goal of becoming a nurse changed. I wanted no part of it! I tore up my report (which I hadn't yet given before the class). My new life-time goal became flying. I wanted to become an airline stewardess.  (They were not called flight attendants until many years later, as the typical stereo-typing progressed.) As it turned out, I never got to engage in that profession either. At the time, requirements for the profession prohibited marriage, and I got married right out of college.

I look back on those days now with a smile on my face.  But there has also been a question in my heart ... what would life have been like had I followed my original dream? You see, now I know what God has called me to do. I will be building and operating assisted living facility/ranches. (See http://www.gentlespringsofhope.org/ourvision.html). Assisted living requires some amount of medical care. While I do have a certain amount of medical common sense, I was never trained and disciplined in the field as I now believe that God had wanted me to be.  Because of this direction that He has headed me in, I am convinced that God's plans and purposes for my life cannot and will not be thwarted. But I must admit that I've wondered if I had "cooperated" with what was originally planted in my heart, would that cooperation have in some way altered His plans for the better.

What about you? What would your life be like if you had followed your original dreams and goals? Be encouraged ... it's never too late! Take your life-time experiences and turn them in the direction you had originally planned to go.  Trust me ... God can take all your hopes, dreams, desires, experiences and skills gained along the way, and work them together for good!