Letting my roots "work it out"

There's just something about patriotism that gets to me. I really enjoy the pomp and circumstance of a good patriotic celebration like the one I attended yesterday. It was very moving.

I'm not much for thinking highly of war (as I'm sure most people feel the same way). It's scary to me that people have to transform themselves into someone who has to kill or be killed. It's scary to me that we have that instinct in us as human beings, and that it actually is something that God designed. I have a hard time understanding that piece and particle of God. I relish in His amazing grace and try not to think about the fact that He is also a just God - one who wants righteousness and can't settle for anything less. It's hard for me to marry those two ideas together because I feel like if He can't have unrighteousness, then where do I fit in? I know that I have unrighteousness because I'm human....something I always think about.

I have a red bud tree in my backyard. If you know anything about me, you know that my plantings all around my house are made up of three major colors - pink, white and purple. I'm such a girlie-girl at heart. My red bud tree is, well of course, pink, which is why I planted it. Last year, this tree was a year old and gorgeous in the spring. It had these magnificent pink blossoms on it that were spectacular. This year, I so looked forward to seeing those blooms. I've waited, and waited. No blooms. In fact, sadly, the tree looks dead. Yesterday, I went to Garden Factory where I bought the tree to talk to the tree man. I told him about my red bud tree. He asked a few questions (like, do you have clay soil? is it wet, etc.?). I do have clay soil and about 10 feet from the tree, there is water. What he told me was that the roots of the tree probably have hit something they don't like and are refusing to let the tree bloom. The tree could be dead (sad for me), but that I just needed to wait to see if the tree would work it out. I've never heard that before - "let the tree work it out". Is there some kind of therapist that trees can talk to to work out their anxieties? If so, I need one.

This got me thinking - this tree is alot like me. When I'm really growing in God, I'm growing and trying to be this beautiful creature that God created. As soon as I hit some difficulty, I stop and "try to work it out". Just like the roots of this tree. It's a turning point for me, sometimes. It's a time for me to decide whether I'm going to continue to blossom for God or stop dead in my tracks and stagnate. Okay, maybe stagnate isn't a great word, but it brings me to a crossroads. What decision I make right then and there will decide whether I'm going to blossom into this magnificent beauty that God intends or whether I'm going to stop producing. Choices. So funny how God uses the nature I cherish and love so much to teach me life lessons. He knows me so well....interesting thoughts, right?