If Trees Could Talk...

This tree...If this tree could talk...

This tree stands in the yard I grew up in...It's seen a lot....it could say a whole lot...
I'm "home" today and as I stepped outside this morning looked to see where the sun would be rising, I saw the rising of this tree and I thought, boy, if this tree could talk....I think this is what it would say...

"Well, good morning, Lenee, it's been a couple months hasn't it? Good to have you back home again. Hang on a few, the sun is right there it will be peaking pretty soon, see my leaves up top have already seen it...I've got proof already that it's on its way up. And yep, you're so right, boy have I seen alot. a whole lot! Remember when Bryan hooked your sled up to the back of the motorcycle and slung dirt all over you right in front of me? Remember when I was third base? I've seen many a hands quickly tap me on their way to home plate. I used to love to watch y'all play ball! I especially loved it when one of the boys would get a really good crack of the bat and off the ball would go flying right through the window of old man Hoke's house that use to be right there.  I wasn't so big back then, but look at me now. I just kept growing, fighting off disease, storms and whatever comes my way...see, a few around me have been taken down... but not me...I'm still here. I'm still standing. Remember all those laps you took around me on that Dingo Dunebuggy? Those days were pretty scary for me...I just knew in one wrong turn I'd take a hit, but I didn't you kept in on the path, surprisingly so...Oh Chrio wasn't so lucky that day he ran it into one of my buddies in the lower lot though, right? I slightly remember you being pretty upset with him that day...He's in heaven now having the ride of his life...Then came the dirt bike! Oh my goodness, your guardian angels have really been busy all these years! And who would've thought as much of a tomboy as you were you would've actually grown up and got married and had a couple beautiful girls as you did. I remember those hard days too when you came home that first Easter without the hubby... things had gotten messed up a bit and you were here with just the girls. Easter. It was Easter. Your favorite time of the yeard no doubt, but this one was a bit difficult....We had a good Easter even though you were sick with a stomach bug of some sort...I remember Meemaw and Lori coming back from Elberton with some surprises for the girls' Easter baskets. You were pretty taken by their goodness. What would you do without family, girl?! Thank God for the support of a good family! Abby actually potty trained herself that weekend too, remember? She is so independent, a lot like somebody else I've watched over these many years. She had a great example in her big sissy no doubt and I'm sure God knew you didn't need that added potty training stress along with everything else. He certainly knows what we can and can't handle doesn't he. He's been so faithful, hasn't he. He's been so good to you and those girls. He's been good around this homestead too. That day when your daddy started driving those two gigantic bolts in my trunk, I'm thinking, Oh my gosh! What in the world is he doing to me? Doesn't he know I'm one of the few originals! I've been here too long to suffer like this? But now I see, now I understand. It was so worth the pain. The wounds have healed now and I've got a pretty cool zipline attached and oh the laughs and squeals that thing has brought! I've so enjoyed every moment eventhough the pain was great in the making of it. I have to admit I've laughed pretty hard at those who have taken a beating on the tree below! Thank goodness your daddy is a pretty smart man and has covered it with some sort of cushion now. And oh, I just love it when your mama plans these so called "get togethers". I heard her saying the other day, that the Rice's are coming over when you come back through next weekend. I just love it when there are little ones running all around me swinging on these swings that I'm so faithfully holding up with my branches and ziplining as fast as they can. When the Maxwell's were here Easter, it was a great time too. I absolutely love, love, love to watch yall do the "money hunt"...one day I just know I'm gonna see a pure knock down, drag out fight over a single dollar bill!!! Hahaha... That'll be good for sure! Oh, Lenee, life just keeps going on doesn't it? People come and go. People laugh and cry. People live and die. But, one things for sure, that sun always tops those trees over there. The God who set this amazing world in motion is so, so faithful! Even when we doubt wether it will ever rise again, it does. Even when the storms, the bad Northeast Ga storms come, my branches might sway and I may even loose a few along the way, but I'm still standing. I'm still enjoying these beautiful sunrises in this absolutely gorgeous place I was planted in so many years ago, even before you totally shocked your mama and daddy by your appearance. Your mama has done so well with making everything around me a sanctuary. I think it's her sanctuary to. Wow, if you only knew the prayers I've seen go up as she has planted, watered, weeded and whatever else it is she's always doing. She's a true work of art herself. And that daddy of yours...bless his heart. He always just keeps bringing the pinestraw, he keeps cutting this grass, he keeps fixing all the stuff around here and helping with all her little projects she comes up with. I just know every squirrel in Bowman knows about him too...I hear them talking when he's away...'whatever you do, you better not show your little tail around here when that white van is in the driveway...that man's got a 22gauge shotgun that can take you down to the ground!' It's been such an amazing time I've had here in this yard. I've seen many, many things. I've seen many, many fun times. I've seen many, many hard times too. What I'm telling you is true, Lenee, life goes on and that sun has been faithful to rise every morning I've been here. Of course, there have been days when the clouds covered my view, but the sun was always there just on the other side of them. I totally have a hallelujah dance with my brances when the silver lining shows up! I love it when the beams of the sunlight pierce through the dark clouds. The light always eventually wins! The night always gives way to the day! I just keep growing, I just keep my eyes open, I just keep hoping and believing it will shine, it will shine bright even when the sky above me is covered with dark clouds. But today, look around there are no dark clouds, not even a cloud in the sky. And enjoy this day. Enjoy the goodness of God all around you. Bask in the presence of the sun and enjoy the faithfullness of the One who planted you. Who set you in the place he choose specifically for you to grow, to survive. The soil is perfectly fertilized and contains all you need to thrive. Just keep growing, just endure the pruning, just keep looking forward to every new day you see that sun rise. And give Him all the glory, give him the praise for the proof of his goodness, majesty and mighty hand at work all around you. He is good, Lenee, He is so good. Enjoy the mercies that are new every day and his grace that is so sufficient. His love for you is higher than anything I have yet to see even from my perspective. Just keep growing, keep relying on him for your strength, for your light, for your nutrients and for your much needed refreshing water. He is good. He is faithful. He can be trusted. He really can."

"...For the LORD has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory."  Isaiah 61:3

Mourning to Praise

I'm not sure why this word is on my heart to share, but I'm gonna be obedient and ask the Holy Spirit to help me convey what I feel Him speaking today. May God be glorified and someone be encouraged.


Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, with a great crowd following him. A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The boy who had died was the only son of a widow, and many mourners from the village were with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. "Don't cry!" he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. "Young man," he said, "get up." Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk to those around him! And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 
Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, "A mighty prophet has risen among us," and "We have seen the hand of God at work today." The report of what Jesus had done that day spread all over Judea and even out across it borders.
Luke 7:11-17 NLT

Can we just stop a moment and think about what just happened in those few verses? A mother has lost her son. I can't imagine. She had lost her husband previously making her a widow. She was about to bury the son who was supposed to take care of her, give her grandchildren one day, carry on their family name. There were mourners, many mourners. Some probably there out of love and respect. Some there possibly being paid to mourn. There were professional mourners back then believe it or not. Nonetheless there were many mourners and she was one of them. As the procession proceeded out of the village gate heading to the chosen place of burial, Jesus meets them where they are. In the midst of all the noise of the mourners and the shuffeling steps of the bearers carrying the coffin, Jesus notices. He sees the mother of this young boy. He sees the fear in her eyes, he takes notice of the heart broken beneath the surface. And he stops, he pauses. He interrupts his current thoughts, he looks at her. He looks her full in the face. His heart begins to overflow with compassion. Their eyes meet and he sees the tears coming down her cheeks, her red swollen eyes meet his and she now pauses...

I can't imagine what she saw that day. Can you? The God of the universe who has come down from heaven to walk among us is looking her full in the face and sees beyond her tears. He knows this is it for her. No husband, now no son and as his eyes begin to fill with tears, he speaks to her. She is looking at Jesus! He is looking at her and he begins to speak with more love and tenderness than she has ever known or heard before.

"Don't cry!"

That's it. That's all he said to her. Two words. Two words that changed everything for her that day for the rest of her life. I'm sure she wanted to explain her circumstances, how dire they really were. Surely she must have thought even in that moment, but you don't understand. Or did she? Did she see the understanding in his eyes? Did she know in that moment that those words were about to change her life forever?

Jesus doesn't hesitate for a moment. His heart overflowing with compassion couldn't be stopped from doing the miraculous. He walks over to the coffin and touched it. That in itself was huge. You weren't supposed to touch a coffin. Especially if you were to ever serve in the temple. So Jesus, touching the coffin says, this is not about religion and your rules, this is about my heart being moved with compassion for this mother, this widow, and I gotta do something about it.

Of course, those carrying the coffin stopped. The bearers were probably still thinking, 'Woe! who is this man walking up in here and having the nerve to touch a coffin,' Or did they see it too? Did they see the compassion in his eyes? Did they know something huge was about to go down? They stop and Jesus looks up into the coffin and begins to speak to the dead boy.

"Young man, get up".

Four words. Four words that brought life back into his body. Four words that changed his life forever. Four words that showed that mother and everyone there that day, including the mourners, that this was not just a man who just happened to be walking through the village gate at that particular moment that day.

The dead boy sat up and began to talk to those around him! So, like what do you think the boy began to say? I mean here he just came back to life and immediately he is just talking away to the ones carrying him in the coffin! And evidently he eventually climbs down out of the coffin probably still talking because then the Bible reads, "And Jesus gave him back to his mother."

Can we imagine for a moment the look in her eyes now and the smile Jesus had on his face as he brought the boy to his mother. Man! what a moment! What an awesome moment! Not just for her but for the many mourners with her!!! This was a moment for the entire village. They got it. They had been there in that moment and their lives too were changed forever!

Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God saying, "A mighty prophet has risen among us," and "We have seen the hand of God at work today."  The crowd was made up of mouners! Mourning turned into praise! Just like that mourners became praisers! They recognized that they had seen the HAND OF GOD AT WORK that day and it changed EVERYTHING!

What made the difference? What was the hand of God at work that day? What was the life changer?

What was once dead, became alive again. By the heart of Jesus overflowing with compassion, he spoke new life into the lifeless boy. The once dead boy sat up! He sat up! And began to talk and hugged his now forever changed mother!

New life changes everything!

I don't know who this is for today, but Jesus wants you to see his face of love and heart of compassion today through your red, bloodshot, tearfilled eyes. I believe he wants you to know he was moved with compassion and his heart bled for you, yes you, on the cross that day and still today in this moment. Mourning stinks. It really does. But it is so necessary at times too.

One of the most important things I learned over the past ten years is to mourn. To allow myself to feel the pain of loss and to allow my heart to break before my loving and moved with compassion heart of Jesus. I believe we are wired to mourn when we have lost something or someone precious. A child. A mother. A father. A brother. A sister. A spouse. A marriage. A job. A friend. A dream.... I'm thankful that Jesus in the story above showed up in the midst of the mourning and not before. In my experience, we have to allow ourselves the time to mourn. We have to let our hearts go there. He doesn't tell us not to mourn, he always says he will turn our mourning into something else for the better. In Ecclesiastes, we are told there is a time to mourn. We have to take our pain and our losses to him or else we will continue to carry a weight we were never meant to carry. It will begin to hinder the amazing race he has set before each of us.

I can't imagine the pain of the losses some of my friends and family have experienced. I may not have experienced the level of loss and pain you have faced in the past or may be experiencing now. All I know is Jesus wants you to see his face in the midst of it. He wants you to know he can bring new life from it. He can take it. He can take the anger that comes along with it, he can take the brokenheart that it causes and he can say, get up, I've got more life ahead of you. It's not over. We mourn, but then we get up. We get up to see the face of Jesus still looking at us with a heart overflowing with compassion.

The mourners there that day saw the hand of God at work. His hand is at work in my life and in your life today. He is bringing new life.

It's okay to mourn. Take time to mourn. Bring things to the heart of Jesus and leave them at his feet. I believe that's when his feet become beautiful because they are able to stand upon and cover everything we bring to them. It's okay to cry. That's how he created us. We just have to be ready to hear his voice when he says, "Don't cry" and then we gotta listen for him to tell the dead to get up. Get up and see the hand of God at work in us and through us. May you be strengthened and encouraged by the power of His mighty hand at work today.

The report of what Jesus had done that day spread all over Judea and even our across its borders.

To my Lord, whose heart always overflows with compassion.