Monday, September 21, 2009

Signs of Healing


For Camille's birthday in April we planted this oak tree in our front yard. It looked beautiful. But after a couple of months we noticed some of the leaves were turning brown.


You can see in this picture that it is looking a bit dry. We called our landscaper friend to come look at it. He told us we had buried the tree too deep when we transplanted it and it was suffocating under all the soil.


Jon took it upon himself to save this tree. He was out there working to unearth it and raise it up to be at the proper level to thrive. At first it seemed to get worse. It lost all its leaves. We had piles of dirt all around our front yard. But we kept hope.


Then after a few weeks we began to see real signs of life. See the new leaf buds!

New leaves did emerge. And while they haven't grown as large or as full as they were, we are hopeful that next Spring the tree will look every bit as good as it did before.

You may have noticed that my posts have become more sparse. This also is a sign of healing. Like the tree I am not as filled out as I once was or would like to again be someday. But, I have had signs of life in the form of peace, hope, and even ... gratitude yes ... gratitude for my trials lately. That seems pretty amazing to me even as I am writing it. But it is true.

I hope both the tree and I continue to grow and bloom with the seasons.

9 comments:

Diana Lesjak said...

Me too! Hugs from Ohio

shanan said...

good news to hear - both of the healing of the tree and that of your heart.

Much love!
Shanan

Linda@CraftaholicsAnonymous said...

I just found your blog recently and I am so impressed by your strength. I am so glad that your heart is healing a little. God bless you.

Amanda said...

What a wonderful metaphor.

Brittany said...

I was actually surprised by this thought the other day as I was running. I am healing.....

2thfairy said...

Great metaphor! I have some salsa for you!

Rach said...

Healing is an amazing thing, isn't it? I'm happy for you. :o)

Ryan Cowley said...

I just came across your blog and wanted to thank you for your incredible insight. I don't remember the post to go back to it so I will just comment here but I was especially touched by the post you did about blame. My little boy was struck by a truck a short time ago and I have had the hardest time not blaming myself. "I am his mother. I should have protected him. I should have heard a voice telling me to yell at him to stop...." But when you said "my hands are clean" that really struck me. I FINALLY was able to realize that I didn't DO anything to CAUSE his accident. It just happened. Thank you!!

rebecca said...

Your metaphor is lovely. The tree in your front yard seems like a beautiful symbol of hope, strength and eternal life.