THE TREE

   I was travelling with my mom and I looked out my window and saw tree that was very large at the bottom but it was twisted tightly around the remainder of the trunk. It was bent almost to the ground and right before it touched the ground, there was small branches that came out of the trunk and they curved back up and reached towards the sky. There was bark on the bottom of the tree but as it twisted it was smooth as could be. The trunk twisted until it came to the lowest part and then small branches were formed with tiny, dainty pink blossoms on them. It was so amazing. It was if time stood still for that moment in time and I took it all in. The truck was going 60 miles per hour, my hair was blowing crazily in the wind and the roar of the open window was just a faint sound as my mind had slowed time as I observed the tree.
   What an amazing testament I observed. That mighty regal tree with roots so deep and so large they were exposed at the bottom of the trunk. The tree had at one time stood tall and mighty and now it was mangled and twisted but its own way, beautiful. Time, a storm and wind had taken that tree and twisted it as if it was were a rag being rung out before it was hung to dry. The bark had been tore away from the trunk as if it were dust being blown off a table. It stood there in the field where it first took root. At one time it may have given shade to the cattle or had a child's swing tied in its limbs but now it was bent as if a large, strong hand pulled it over to see what was over the hill and the tree was in their way.
   It stuck with me. It seemed like such a parallel in my life. My roots ran deep in my beliefs and the relationships around me. Then through a series of storms I have been twisted and mangled and seemed as if there was no more purpose for me to remain. Then, when all seemed lost I branched out and started reaching towards the sky. Right when others thought that there was no evidence of life from the bend in my back and the stoop of my shoulders and my pride being stripped away, I began to grow. Something so amazing, tall and strong that seemed it couldn't be touched by anything was almost destroyed with seemingly no effort. Out of all the surrounding trees and some within throwing distance, why was that one touched? How did the path of the storm skirt around every tree but that one? What was the special thing about that tree? How did the tree survive such a radical thing? I don't know how long the tree had been mangled before it started growing and healing. I have no idea how many years it stood before the instance took place. I am not sure how it was mangled either. All I know is what it meant to me in that one moment in time.
  Thousands of people have passed by the tree and may have skimmed over it or may not have even noticed the tree. I did. I felt as though the Lord made that tree in that way to speak to me. He created it. He nurtured it with the sun, rain, clouds and a storm. He knew I needed that tree at that moment in time. It may have outlived its usefulness but not for me. Even if no one else was shaded by it or used its branches for a swing or climbed up the trunk, it is living strong in my mind. At one point someone may have looked at it and thought they should cut it down. For some reason it was allowed to remain. I can almost imagine the surprise when the tree started to bloom. I feel as if that will be me. I don't know where to go from here. I don't know what my job will be or where I will live. Every time I think I have that figured out, something happens. One day, when we least expect it, my blooms will appear and everyone around me will get to enjoy the beauty the Lord has given me. The Lord's timing isn't mine but I trust Him. I need Him to show up for me in a big way, but until then I will bloom where I am planted.