This is a true story.
Once upon a time there was a young family...the mommy, the daddy, and two adorable children. A little boy and a little girl. The little family was so happy.
They lived in a cute little house on top of a little hill. This cute little house had a HUGE picture window. The front yard had a HUGE, beautiful pine tree right smack in front of this window. The mommy loved this tree!
Often times, the mommy would lie in the floor upside down so she could see all the way to the top of her beloved pine tree.
There was so much life in this one tree. There were hundreds of pinecones...all sizes and shapes. Then there were the bird nests of the mommy's favorite bird, the cardinal.
The mommy would wonder in amazement as to how the little birds understood their roles in life so well. The daddy bird would go to work and bring the food home to feed his wife and babies. The mommy bird would stay home to guard the home and babies with her very life if need be.
The sunlight would beam in from the tippy top and shine all the way to the bottom. If you imagined hard enough, this could be a year-round Christmas Tree... weathering all of the seasons of life.
This little family experienced all the storms that little families experience. Then one day a HUGER than HUGE storm came. It HUFFED and PUFFED, and blew their little house in.
When the storm had blown over the little family surveyed the damage. To their dismay...the daddy had been blown to the other side of life. The happy little family was not happy anymore.
The mommy had to work much harder to take care of her little house and the two adorable children. The mommy would come home very tired and discouraged, but her favorite pine tree would be waiting to welcome this weary mommy home every day, and provide shade for the two adorable children.
BUT ONE VERRRY HORRIBLE DAY....the mommy came home and her beloved tree was DEAD!
Overnight a plague of worms had swarmed in and destroyed the well-worn friend. In a matter of hours, the once green epitome of life was now pitch black, not a green sign of life anywhere! EVERYTHING was gone...even her redbirds. The mommy sobbed.
The mommy tried to save the tree. She called every tree doctor she could think of, and they all said the very same thing, "There was no hope...too late....cut it down." The mommy just couldn't do it.
Somehow deep in this mommy's heart she knew there was still life in the heart of this tree...even if no one else could see it. So every night the mommy would gather her two adorable children, would hold hands, bow, and pray for the now dead tree. They also prayed for the daddy that had been blown to the other side of life.
All of this mommy's friends and relatives thought she had flipped her wig, and made fun of her for believing what she did. She didn't care. The faith in her heart told her the truth.
Every night they prayed, and every day it didn't look like anything had changed. The date to have the tree cut down drew closer and closer.
THEN ONE DAY SOMETHING MIRACULOUS HAPPENED.... as suddenly as it had left...LIFE CAME BACK INTO THE TREE!!!! Really, it did!
Every part of the tree that once portrayed death was NOW more alive than ever! The tree was much greener! The tree had twice as many pinecones! The mommy's favorite redbirds moved back in and so did the daddy that had been blown to the other side of life.
Over the years, as I have faced impossible situations, the Lord would speak gently to my heart and remind me of the miracle of my pine tree.
I cannot tell my true story without being reminded of another true story about a tree.
Matthew 28:5-7 5But the angel said to the women, Do not be alarmed and frightened, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, Who was crucified.
6He is not here; He has risen, as He said [He would do]. Come, see the place where He lay.
7Then go quickly and tell His disciples, He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.
t-t-f-n (ta-ta-for-now)