A Second Look

I’m learning a lot in kindergarten. No, I’m not talking about that somewhat familiar writing about cookies and milk and holding hands when you cross the street. I’m talking about the days I’ve been volunteering at the local school. The other day they were learning descriptive words (yes, I know, in kindergarten!) and I was busy going from table to table helping them sound out letters to words like: cute, black, little and good. The teacher kept persuading them to look deeper and find more than one word; more than just the first thing that popped into their heads.

So today, I thought I’d try my own experiment. I’m sitting here looking out my window at a tree in the yard. It’s pre-snow winter here so it’s not a real exciting view. At first I would describe it as gray, blah, leafless, lifeless… but as I looked closer and deeper, I began to see more. I saw that no matter what size or shape the poor ol’ branch was in, at the end – it pointed up. Every tip of every branch pointed up. Now did it point up on its own willful accord, or was something running through it that helped it to reach up with its very tips?

Sometimes our lives can feel gray, blah, lifeless… whether it’s too much routine or too much inactivity – especially during the snowy, cold, winter months. But God says that He is the Vine and we are the branches (John 15:5). So I think that means – just like the tree in my yard – there is something flowing in us that can make us look up and reach up… no matter where we find ourselves. It’s not our circumstances, it’s not our own determination and strength, but something (or should I say “Someone”) in us, that can cause us to keep our sights on the things above (Col. 3:2). Warms my heart just thinking about it. This is one time when I’m okay with not being in control!