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This spring I did something that I’d put off for some time. In my backyard was a huge tree. We’d watched it merge, a sort of transfiguration, from two strong independent selves, to become one, its limbs had provided shade for my children and their pets, and for my grandchildren and neighborhood kids as they frolicked on the gym set.
Recognizing that the “twins” were aging, I had set out a redbud tree a few feet away. A little slip of a thing, as it grew, it leaned away, stretching toward the sun, seeking its own place.
The mothering twins were taken away a few days ago, leaving just a stump, a memory of its old self. That stump will “mother” the redbud as it seeks its own way, reaching toward that same sun, but in its own way.
I’ll continue as I am able to help her as she asserts herself, repositioning the stakes as she matures. The tree will grow with confidence, bringing a new beauty to its new space. I’ve set free the old and embraced, even encouraged, the new. I am pleased with what God has made.
This message is excerpted from “Pleased with what God has made” by Dorothy Riley Nevils from the July 27, 2017, blog of the Women of the ELCA.