Of Trampolines and Turn of Events

As the kids in our family have gotten older, we have begun getting rid of all of our childhood toys. Not just the little dinky ones, but the big expensive ones too. First my dad tore down the tree house that he had built when we were little, because it was getting old and the wood was rotting. I was sad to see that go, even though I didn’t really use it that much when I was younger. Funny how you seem to miss things only once they’re gone, isn’t it?

            A few weeks ago my younger brother took apart our trampoline in the backyard, in order to give it to a family that would put more use to it than we did now. That trampoline had seen a lot of memories made in our family – such as broken wrists, birthday parties, and ice storms. But now it’s gone, and there is only a bare patch of grass that signifies where it once stood. I have included a picture, wonder of all wonders.

            The significance of this illustration is that I noticed how the grass did not really grow under the trampoline because it was not getting enough sunlight. Now that the trampoline has been removed, we hope that the grass will grow and our backyard will be more evenly green.

            Sometimes God takes something out of our life and we don’t really know why. Many times it may be something inherently good, but for the sake of conforming us more to the image of His Son, the Father has deemed that we have had enough of something. As I said earlier, we do not usually realize the value of something until we don’t have it anymore. I probably would not have thought about jumping on the trampoline at all this summer if I had not known that we were going to be getting rid of it.

            In order that we might grow, God may take away things in our lives so that we may see how much and why we really value them. We will be able to see whether or not they have become idols in our lives – and we will have a check-up as to where our God stands in our hearts. God wants every part of our heart devoted to Him, and sometimes His removal of certain things from our lives is simply a reminder of that. 

Trees

A few of a tree's most basic needs are sunlight, water, and rich soil. Many hardy trees only need limited amounts of these needs - they can go for weeks without water, and the soil they grow in can be as useless as the Georgia red clay. But the one thing I believe all trees have to have to survive is their roots. These underground limbs are what gathers the nutrients and feeds them to the tree. If a tree is cut down or uprooted, it dies.
As a college student, I have experienced the phenomena of being "uprooted". I now have two homes: the place where I grew up in, and the place where I am going to school for the time being. For the last year I have frequently been going back and forth between these two places. Since I am in one place half the year and another place the other half, I sometimes feel like I can never be grounded or fully engaged in either one. Both have my heart, so I cannot wholly give it away to one or the other.
Not only college students experience this, but also kids that are tossed back and forth between broken homes. Orphans, the homeless, those in military service - they all may not know which place to call "home". To a certain degree we all experience this uprootedness. The ease of transportation has not only created a small world, but it allows us to get away from places we don't like. We can start over, we can be sent away, we can be uprooted.
All Christians will deal with this feeling all of their lives, for "our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ". We do not and will not ever truly belong in this world, but rather in the one to come. How then shall we live in a place which is not our home?
If a tree is constantly being uprooted and transplanted, how will it ever grow? How will it ever reach it's full growth and potential?
The answer lies in where we place our roots.
This past year at college, our verse of the year was Isaiah 61:3 - "They will be called great trees of righteousness, planted by the Lord for His glory." I never really thought deeply about this verse until now. The Lord will raise us up from the ashes to be great trees of righteousness, and it will all be for His glory! If He is the one that plants us, then He will place us where He wants us for His glory to be spread!
Psalm 1:1-3 says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the instruction of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."
Trees that are planted next to streams of water will doubtless be the most healthy, for when the drought comes they will still have water for renewed strength. If we place our delight and our trust in the Lord, and obey His law, we will find that we can bear fruit anywhere, and we will not wither under the harshest weather!
Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If we abide in His word and who He is, we can find joy in achieving our ultimate fulfillment no matter where we are placed physically.

Why yes, I wallow in my own pigsty quite often, thank you

Hello, dear friends.
First of all, my apologies go out to you...for I have been negligent in creating new blog posts for quite some time. It is not because I have had a lack of creativity or inspiration, but merely because I lack the motivation to write them. I also have been working on a book lately and that has eaten up most of the time I would've spent on this blog else wise.
But back to my laziness. It is becoming grossly apparent to me all the day. I do not write posts because I feel as though I would not get anything out of them, and therefore would not be a sufficient use of my time. (this all goes along with the fantastical belief that I spend my time usefully otherwise). I am quite content to lay in my own pigsty - my own little world of selfish aspirations and dreams which are really only the leftovers of reality.
When I get on social websites such as Facebook, Google+, etc. I am only looking, waiting, for someone to interact with me. Waiting for someone to inquire about my life. Waiting for someone to be interested in me, to take time out of their day to converse with me. Me, me, me.
Although I hate to bring it up, Brian Regan's "me monster" is so true of me. It is a hungry monster, eating up any and all love I once had or intended to have towards other people. I am a pig, it's true. As far as I know, pigs are only interested in themselves. What they want (which is really not much to be said for), is the only thing that matters to them.
I am determined to not let my selfishness rule me, by the grace of God. His mercies are new every morning, and His faithfulness is great. My prayer is that by looking into the face of my Savior, all else would fall away, including my selfish pride which I so desperately cling. By looking upward may I forget to look inward.
And may I write a few more posts for the sake of others' benefit while I'm at it.