There used to be a house on one of the busiest streets in my town. It was a modest, one story house. A house where two people raised three children. When the children were grown and the street became too busy, the couple sold the house and the lot it was on and moved to a quieter neighborhood.
I didn’t meet the couple until they had moved into the new house but when my husband and I passed the old house, he pointed it out and said, “That’s where Hugo and Alice used to live.”
A few days ago, I drove down the busy street and noticed the house was no longer there.
But the oak trees that lined the house’s driveway are still there. Huge oak trees stand in testimony to the building that once housed a family. Though the house is gone, the trees stand ~ rooted deeply.
Interestingly, when the house was there, I didn’t notice the trees but with the house gone and the lot smoothed over with grass, the oak trees almost point to the house that used to be.
The roots of oak trees go deep. It is said that the main root of an oak tree is as deep as the canopy of the tree is wide. Without a deep root to anchor the tree, it would not be able to stand.
The family that planted those trees also put down roots of another kind ~ roots of love, laughter, security, concern, friendship, values and honor. Those qualities are rooted deeply in their children and grandchildren.
Though the couple is now gone, ironically buried in the cemetery across the street from their original home, the things they sowed and cultivated in their family still stand.
Though the house is gone, the trees grow strong. A testimony.
I want my life to be like that. I want to plant “trees” of kindness, goodness, love, compassion and Godliness in my family that will continue to grow and stand strong long after I am gone.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, being rooted and grounded in love… Ephesians 3:17
Leave a comment and tell me how you plant roots in your life and family?