Let it Snow!

Three and ½ years ago, I walked by a sun-kissed body of water.  I wept that day because God was asking us to move away. I was arguing with Him.  A girl like me needed a plan, to know everything was going to be okay.  That day, He spoke a couple of things to me. 

He told me He would go with me.  Just as the` reflection of the sun followed me on ripples of water that day, He would walk beside me, I just needed to trust him.

Secondly, He reminded me of a passage in scripture where Joshua told the priests to to step into the Jordan with the ark of the covenant.  When they did, the water went up in a heap, and the entire nation walked across on dry ground. I was reminded that sometimes, you have to obey, and take the first step before the water parts.

Thirdly, he led me to a tree stump, planted right in the middle of the water.  Though cut down, the stump remained, right in the middle of the water.  I didn’t know what it was all about then, but now I do.  The picture in front of me was not clear at the time, but now it is. 

My interest in trees peeked right before I moved when I went to a Bible study, titled, “Do you what to be a tree or a flake?”  The lesson was about being rooted and grounded in God’s word, and not being emotionally moved by everything that life brought our way.  I was challenged that day.

Soon after we arrived here, my Bible studies continuously led me to Isaiah 61:3

To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.  In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.

I received a diagnosis a month or so after I arrived in town and although I was glad to know a reason for a prolonged illness, I was paralyzed with fear.  I sat at the table one morning, and looked out the window at my in-law’s pond.  I was reminded with the sun shining outside the window on ripples of water that God would be with me.  He was.

I had a dream about the grief and sorrow I had been carrying in my life from losses I had endured.  I woke Travis up after my dream and we went to a big oak tree by the pond.  It was there that I buried my sorrows by the roots.  Surely he bore my grief and carried my sorrow, and by His stripes I was healed.  The very next day, I received an answer and was able to have a surgery that brought my healing.

And then there was the time shortly after that my daughter drew me a picture of the sun reflecting on the water.

God was intimately close as I, and my 5 year old daughter, continued to have dreams from God that we were to be here.

After a couple of years, I was asked to direct our church’s day care.  This job was intensely stressful, but I learned so much.  I learned how to be a better leader.  I learned how to find a rhythm for our family.  I grew up in so many ways.  It was such an intense time that I felt it would never end.  It did, and it ended just as God showed me in my dreams.

God is so intimate.

During my time at work, an employee drew me a picture of a tree with the verse, “by standing firm, you will gain life.”  As I felt that my time there was coming to an end, my sister in law bought me a necklace of a tree.  And on my last day, the staff and children marked a picture of a tree with their thumbprints on it.

As the season was changing between working full time and staying at home, I went on a retreat with a few friends.  It was autumn but all of the trees had lost their leaves, except one right outside of our view. 

I was sad about this, because our retreat was in the mountains and I imagined the view being beautiful with autumn colors.  I thought about how much I hated winter and how I always seemed to get depressed when it came.  I noticed the one little tree holding on to its leaves and thought how it was a unique picture of me.  Wanting so desperately to hold on to my leaves in fear of winter.

I researched a little about trees and roots in winter and found out a few interesting facts that day.  First of all, it is possible for a tree to keep their leaves all year long in a green house.  However, the lifespan of the tree is shortened and it is unhealthy in the long run for that tree because it lacked the natural processes of going through all of the seasons.

Secondly, I found out that if there is an early snow, the roots of a tree are protected by softer moist soil. There is a chance that the roots will remain tender and produce a beautiful harvest of fruit in the next season.  However, if there is a late snow and the ground freezes first, the roots will become brittle and crack.

And so I felt God speak to my heart on that retreat that although I was getting ready to enter the winter season (when things are dormant), there is a chance that if I am open to the snow coming early, then my roots will remain tender. I was instructed not to let this season make me bitter.

A few weeks later, I looked out my dining room window.  The window was covered in winter window stickers that read,  “Let is snow” on them.  In the distance, stood our apple tree in the middle of winter, holding on to its’ apples.

I am reminded that in our spiritual lives, fruit can remain, even in the winter.

And everything has come full circle. 

Here we are again.  This time, the tree has been cut down.  We have lost so much.  We have lost jobs, money, security, relationships, and dreams. We are in what looks like an impossible situation.  Yet the roots remain.

I am reminded of that tree in the middle of the water, with roots going deep. I argued with God that day, but He was right, He came with me and is still here shining bright upon our circumstances.

I open our advent book and we teach our children about a shoot that rises from the stump of Jesse…from the impossible situations, life sprouts.  And from a very messy family, Jesus comes humble and small right in the middle of our great big problems.

I look out my front door…and our ugly half of a tree in our front yard has this one little sprout of life coming from the side of the stump that is cut down and dead.   I am reminded of that shoot of hope… that God shows up in impossible situations.

To say we have moments of panic is an understatement, but this time, there is no argument.  There is peace.  To say I do not want control is a lie. But this time, I have memories of God’s faithfulness.  We are in a winter season, that’s a fact, and Christmas is come and gone. But somehow I can’t get this little ditty out of my head...

     "Oh, the weather outside is frightful,

      But the fire is so delightful.

      And since we've no place to go, 

      Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"

   

Lord, complete your work in me.  

May my roots go deep, remain tender, and this year do a new thing…may it spring forth from this tree of righteousness for your glory and splendor!

 Amen.