Half Of A Tree

Over five years ago, my youngest son graduated from high school.
It is the custom in our family to have a party for a high school graduation.
The guest list for the high school graduation is primarily the graduate’s choice.
This was their celebration.

I usually encouraged my children to think outside the box a bit.
I suggested that besides friends, they invite those people who impacted them.
I expanded that to include those people that they may have impacted.
The guest list was a wonderful mix of people.

That particular year, my son’s party was going to be before his actual graduation.
It always gets so busy after graduation.
Invitations to other friend’s parties start to arrive.
Having the party beforehand helped since it did not conflict with other dates.

The date and time of his party were set.
The invitations went out.
I went food shopping the Wednesday before the Saturday party.
I did not go shopping on Thursday as I typically did since I had a hair cut scheduled.

Each of my children were doing something that Thursday afternoon.
One daughter was working; another daughter was at home.
My youngest daughter was babysitting in the neighborhood; my oldest son was at work.
My younger son, the graduate, was helping a friend who was taking care of some animals.

As I sat in the chair, getting my hair cut, the sky grew pitch black.
Storms were in the forecast, but nothing like what I was seeing in the sky.
The wind came out of nowhere and blew violently, sounding like a train whistle.
Trees seemed like they were curtsying and the power flickered.

The rain was coming down sideways.
I knew that I was going to sit this storm out and not even attempt to go home.
My youngest daughter had just gotten her first cell phone and I called her.
She told me that she was down the basement with the children because the sky was green.

That did not sound good.
I prayed for her protection.
I prayed for my other children and for my husband.
I prayed that there would not be too much damage.

Finally, the rain and the wind stopped.
I paid for my haircut and set out to go home.
I was not ready for the scene around me.
The streets looked like a war zone.

Trees were down.
Utility poles were leaning.
Debris was everywhere.
All I could think of was a tornado had gone through.

Tornados are not typical where I live.
We may occasionally get a tornado warning.
We sometimes get the effect of storms as they travel up the east coast.
We often get tropical storms that can be violent.

But nothing prepared me for this.
I looked at my cell phone and realized that it needed to be charged.
I called my daughter at home, I’m fine, Mom, but we lost power.
Large branches and leaves are all over the place but none of our trees came down.

Thank you for Your protection, Lord, I prayed.
I checked in with both of my sons and they were fine.
They didn’t know how they would get home since many roads were blocked.
Alternate routes, if you could find them, needed to be taken.

My oldest daughter, who was at work, got the least of the storm.
However getting home was a real problem for her.
The route that should have taken me fifteen minutes, took me almost two hours.
Every road I went down was blocked with falling trees and wires.

It did indeed look like a war zone.
I already heard chain saws as I drove home.
I already saw utility trucks.
However, due to the devastation, I knew that more crews would have to be brought in.

When I finally reached my street, I could not believe my eyes.
The beautiful tree lined street had dramatically changed.
The first few houses lost many of the trees that lined their property.
The house that was diagonally across from ours lost practically every tree on their front lawn.

I saw that neighbor outside just standing on her lawn.
I went to her and hugged her.
She had just lost her husband months before and this was just too much.
She clung to me and cried.

It was later reported that a tornado did touch ground in our town.
Our area got the worst of it.
The cul-de-sac on the other side of our development was hit the hardest.
Everyone was outside looking around in disbelief.

We were without power for almost a week.
All the food I had bought for my son’s graduation party was lost.
Stores ran out of dry ice so there was no way to keep the food safe until the power returned.
Since we have a well and our own septic system, bathrooms were useless.

We had to cancel the graduation party.
It hurt my heart to have to do that.
My son understood.
There was nothing we could do.

I thought of all of this on my walk.
I saw remnants of that tornado over five years later.
Some of the trees that line the street did not fall down completely.
A few of them were sheared in half by the violent winds.

Many chose to keep those trees with the hopes that they would fill out again.
They are.
From one side the tree looks perfectly fine.
From the other, for the keen eye that knows where to look, there is only half of a tree.

I smiled and remembered the projects my children had at school.
Draw your family tree was assigned at least once in each of their elementary school years.
They never minded that project because they only had to draw half of a tree.
They knew their father’s ancestry but never knew mine since I was adopted.

They were only able to draw half of a tree.
Half of their ancestry.
Half of their story.
Half of their picture.

Isn’t that true for all of us?
Though you may not be adopted, you still have half of a tree.
The one half, your physical ancestry, looks just fine.
The other half, your spiritual ancestry, needs completion.

If you have not trusted in Jesus alone for your salvation, your roots are shallow.
If you have trusted in Jesus and He is your Lord and Savior, your roots go deep.

I am the vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in the vine. I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.
(John 15:1-5)

Apart from Jesus, you are only half of a tree.
Your roots are shallow; you will be tossed with every wind of change that blows your way.
Connected to Jesus, remaining in Him, your roots are deep.
When the storms rage, you will hold fast because you are attached to Him.

How deep are your roots?
Are you growing and thriving in Him so that you have lush branches?
Or are you apart from Him so that you are only half of a tree?
Apart from Him, you can do nothing.