I’ve been some what obsessed with trees for the last 6 months. It all started this summer with the trees in the cavern in Rapid City, SD. I worked at this Bible camp there for 3 months this summer. The first few days at camp were difficult ones filled with loneliness, fear, sadness, and other mixes of emotion. I had a lot of down time and often I would just sit and stare, wondering if I could actually do what I was doing. It seems to me now that I was trying to fathom doing this alone, without God. I couldn’t have. The sin of my flesh and the worldly desires were definitely battling my soul. I often felt defeated but still God prevailed in each divine moment spent loving a kid who needed it. Anyway. The start of the summer was spent questioning my ability, wondering if the things established in me could handle this. So i would stare outside at the creek and the rockside and sun and the goats and … THE TREES. I was just in awe of this place and the beauty what God created. One of my favorite times during the day was when the wind would blow. For one, it is VERY hot in SD not humid which is nice but man that sun would shine down like Florida sun. So the breeze was a blessing in those hot days. Also, you could hear the breeze coming as it would travel through the cavern over the rocks and the trees. I swear it would sound like a train coming to camp still off in the distance. When that wind would come though, it was blow the trees and their leaves in all directions. The trees would bend and sway. Some seemed to nearly touch the ground, yet they always remained. No matter what kind of storm would come- afterward they would stand tall as if to say they had it in them to last anything. I want to believe that this is true about me. That no matter what sort of struggles or pitfalls come my way- i have something in me that would allow me to withstand it all. The trees represent hope for me. So that is where the obssession comes from.
I believe that God has established himself within me. I have the hope of Christ living inside of me to share. No matter what comes my way, I can withstand and remain.
