The OAK

It feels like Fall! The cooler temps make the men in my family think about deer season. They think about it all the time, but their brains really get going when we have our first cool snap. I accompanied them on a Ranger ride Friday and all they did was discuss what needed to be trimmed and cut to get ready for hunting and winter. We cut our own firewood so there was a running list going of dead trees that would be perfect for that. I expected at any moment for one of them to grab a legal pad and start taking notes. I did the usual, like close my eyes when we went through the dugout. When I am on these trips too with my family, I have a habit of thinking about what I could be doing at home. I have learned to “Give THANKS” as we ride around. I thank the Lord for the trees, my healthy family, my home in the country, and the fact we live in a free country where we can ride, look, and pretty much do as we please. My mental list of thanksgiving came to a halt when I heard my husband say something about a cluster of trees. There was a decent size Oak tree. My husband then pointed out two smaller Cedar trees were growing right by it and said they had to go! I am no tree expert, but according to the Monico men, the smaller cedar trees evidently were crowding the Oak tree and stealing its nutrients. They were disturbing the root system of the Oak and a few more things of that nature were listed that I missed. I knew at that point that in a strange way, but isn’t life always strange if we are honest, that my life was represented in a way by these trees. I saw myself as the OAK tree and some of the extra things in life as the Cedar trees. The start of this school year has been stressful. I have continuously used the word hard to describe it! I have not been myself. Maybe I need to get rid of some “underbrush” or the cedars in my life that are crowding in and robbing my life of peace and joy. I thought as my kids got older that I would not be as busy. (HaHa) That is the funniest thing that I ever thought! Life was a breeze when all we had to do was play in the dirt pile and think about our next meal or what time Dad would be home. A fun outing was taking the trash to the dumpster. We did that over and over again, one bag at a time, just to get out of the house. Life is more complicated now. I will not bore anyone with a list of what needs to go in my life, what the cedar trees might be for me. That is something I am going to have to pray about. After I pray, then I will have to be obedient because it may be good stuff that has to go. Likewise, It could seem strange to an observer when the Monico men cut down the perfectly two good cedar trees next to the Oak. The Cedar trees are good, but not as good as the Oak. It may seem strange to observers when I or anyone else gets rid of some good stuff in their life to do the Lord’s Will. That is why we must obey the Lord and not others! Deuteronomy 30:19 says “Choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him.” I am memorizing this verse this week, praying I can live by it, and do some necessary pruning. Join me!