A story about a tree...

This story was originally shared on Saturday, May 3rd at the Uptown retreat as we reflected on the seasons our church has gone through. From a fiery bunch of college kids, to a quieter (read: tired) season of weary parents with wee babes, to its current season of growth and discovery and reaching into the community.  I'm grateful to be part of this tribe of beautiful people, and that the lessons in Poppa love that a pear tree have taught me were part of our shared story too.  

Perhaps it's bettered named "A story about "Poppa" love..."

Dad & I in 1989

Just a few days before my 30th birthday, I lost my rock.  My dad Peter passed away quite suddenly, and my world was forever changed.  This loss affected not just me, but my family, and young children who were particularly close to him.

The kids and furries join in on the action...

So, when his birthday approached, we made plans to celebrate his life, and how he continued to live on in ours by planting a young Asian Pear tree in our backyard.  We'd lived in our house for a few years, but it was lacking in the landscaping department, so it would add much needed greenery and serve as a happy reminder to all of us of a very special man.  So, on August 2nd, 2005 we purchased an Asian Pear tree from the local garden centre, and began digging a hole. 

 Peter means "The Rock"

Things got serious on day two....

The hole is deep enough & we celebrated conquering the rocks!

We chuckled at the irony that we were unable to do much more than scrape away a millimeter at a time with a shovel.  Soon we returned to Home Depot to rent a massive powered auger to break through the rocky ground to make room for our new addition. Finally, after two days of toiling, the tree was planted.  Looking out our kitchen window we could see it growing.  I must confess, I'm not a gardener, I followed the advice of my local nursery on what kind of soil to use and added bonemeal as recommended.  We watered the "Poppa Tree" and smiled as the leaves turned to red later that fall.

The next spring, something was wrong.  Initially it grew leaves, but it soon started to show signs of distress, the leaves falling early in the summer, and it never flowered.  In hindsight I think the soil in our yard was a big part of the problem, but I heaped on the stuff the Garden Centre told me to and said a little prayer.

But by the next spring it looked something like this....

We call this time "the sad little twig years"....

Giving in....

I watered and prayed and fed it and hoped beyond hope that this state was temporary.  I was sad and angry...about more than the tree.  The tree was just a physical reminder of the sadness...and the loss.

One day, about two years into the "sad little twig years", I bumped one of the dead branches when I was mowing the lawn one day and it snapped like kindling.  The tree was not just sick.  It was DEAD.

I brought out the hacksaw and cried as I took our Poppa Tree to the ground. The following spring I buried it with some top soil and sprinkled it with grass seed.  Grass grew and we moved on.

Never underestimate what is happening below the surface

The following summer, we'd missed a week of mowing, and I discovered when I got to the section of the yard where the tree had been, a tiny little shoot coming up out of the grass.  I wondered if it was a weed, but when I tugged it it didn't move.  So pulled the grass out from around it, discovering the shoots were attached to the buried stump.

We'd given up, but God hadn't.  Under the surface, those roots were growing, no longer pouring energy into a dead trunk and branches, the roots had matured, and out of the stump, new life was growing.

Power made perfect in weakness 

Each week those shoots were wilder and stronger than they had been before.  It was as if the tree was celebrating, growing every which way, and the now established root system was supporting a "tree" (and I use this term loosely) less than a tenth the size of the original.  It went crazy.

Eventually It occurred to me that a tree with 20+ trunks would likely not be practical, but none were straight so I cut it back to three.  Eventually two of those took hold and the third remained looking like a sprout, so we eventually cut it back as well.

Now 5 years later, the Poppa tree is displaying it's strength, perseverance and vigor.  

It flowered for the first time this last spring....

Lessons in life 

Such lessons this tree has taught me.

Trying doesn't always equal 'success' the way we picture it.  Sometimes in life no matter how much we work and pray things don't grow.  They don't thrive.  They don't go on.

Letting go is ok.  There are times when life sucks the wind out of us and we're tired and broken and got nothin' left.  Sometimes we need to let things go to regain our strength.  Face that our best was enough, even if it didn't work out and that perhaps God had other plans.

We can reflect and learn.  Looking back on my journey with the Poppa tree, I realize that the rocky soil likely presented just too much of a challenge for it to thrive, not my lack of care.  I can also accept that my lack of knowledge (about soil and trees in general) likely made things more difficult for this young tree. 

There's no such things as hopeless. Most importantly I am reminded (for the billionth time) that God can restore even what seems impossible. There are no lost causes, things won't always work out the way we plan, but don't for a second think that it's beyond his repair.

You don't always get what you ask for

Another lesson (and interesting twist to our Poppa tree story) is that when the tree came back, it was very different from the original.  Still a pear tree (though we'll update you on what the fruit looks like when it makes an appearance) but rather than the reddish bark and leathery leaves, the new one is a purplish grey with soft fuzzy leaves.  Still very much a pear tree (the torn leaves smell like pears) but we suspect the original was a graft onto the root system of another hardier variety.  It's not what I bought, or what I expected, but (in case you haven't noticed) I am not disappointed in the least.

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When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.