What’s holding you up?

Good morning to you and happy Friday!

Yesterday I spent some of the afternoon out in the gale force winds of Spring chasing the band of brothers as they scootered, biked, shot baskets, hit line drives while their sister busied herself rolling balls down the driveway and into the street. 

Apparently watching Lola try to keep them from blowing all the way to Oz was rather entertaining. 

While I was busy chasing kiddos up north, a tree removal company came and took care of a problem tree that was next to our driveway back home.

It was actually a nice tree.

Growing tall and providing some shade for the basketball hoop in the summer…I have taken pictures of it with icy crystals and snow this winter and loved it…beautiful leaves in the fall…buds in the spring…

but when it was planted, the root system was somehow not freed to do what roots are supposed to do. 

Either it wasn’t planted deep enough or the planter failed to remove the confining bucket it came in and as a result the roots were growing shallow and encircling the base of the tree. 

It looked fine, but it was in a perpetual state of killing itself. 

We can’t always tell the health of a plant or a person by what’s above ground. 

Icebergs…trees…people…we need deep roots. 

What is seen of our lives is substantiated by the foundations that go deep. 

There is only one foundation I have chosen to build my life on. 

What is seen by you, by my family, by the people who encounter me on the other side of a counter – whether I am selling or buying…what my class sees on Sunday morning or you read on Tuesday…it all has to be simply the fruit of a deeper walk…a stronger foundation than I am capable of producing on my own. 

My foundation is Christ alone. 

He is the nourishment and guide and leader and forgiver of my life. 

My roots go down deep for Him because I recognize Him as the source of all my life. 

So yes, I read and study and I pray and I fight against my tendency to let my roots be satisfied with what I can gain in the tiny circle that centers around me…it will always be a battle to push past the familiar comfort of self and put in the effort to let my roots push into new levels of reliance on Him. 

I embrace the season of Lent as a time for digging deeper. 

I hope you do as well. 

They will come today and grind out the stump. 

This won’t really take very long. There is hardly even a presence of the former tree except for a few wood chips that they will vacuum up. 

If you feel like your life is choking out, maybe it’s time to check your root system. 

“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay free, and they never stop producing fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT

Grow deep, my friend, grow deep. 

Love and blessings are prayed to cover each of you today <3 

Laura