I’ve always been partial to trees. Maybe it’s because of their beauty, their strength, or their uniqueness.
Trees have a way of teaching us some things. Like how to be strong, how to stand up tall, how to shed old things and grow new things, how to withstand the storms of life, and how to be well rooted but still concentrated on reaching up.
So, maybe it’s because they remind me of who I want to be.
I want to be a woman “Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But who’s delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law mediates day and night. They shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever they do shall prosper,” Psalm 1:1-3.
I love reading what other people say about trees as well. Hermann Hesse wrote the following in his book, Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte:
“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers…In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfil themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured…
A tree says: My strength is trust…I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.
A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought…unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail. When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent…Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.”
Home is not Virginia. Home is not my house with all my things. Home is not my family and friends.
Home was in Honduras, it was in Guatemala, and it’s here in El Salvador. Home happens to always be with me, because home is wherever I am with Jesus.
Because I made my heart a home for Jesus.
Yes, I miss being in Virginia, and I miss being with my family and friends. I miss the beautiful mountains and the weather this time of year. But, my heart is full of joy even though I am not near those things. Jesus walks with me, and he brings me the truest joy of all.
I cannot expect to remain still all my life, to keep this love and pure joy to myself. I have to venture to the unreached, to “declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples,” 1 Chronicles 16:24.
This month, and every month, my team and I get to do that. While in El Salvador we will show His love to children in orphanages, to teen moms, to men in prisons, and to anyone and everyone we meet along the way. My prayer is that they will be receptive to His love, and if shown to its fullness, it will be received.
In His Love,
Hope
——————————–
My team and I are here in San Salvador at a ministry called Sus Hijos, which is a registered NGO that implements projects used to serve the orphaned and abandoned children in the government and private orphanages. A Foundation formed to support the Children of ISNA. They also serve the communities and families of El Salvador with events, community feeding, house building and feeding the homeless.
Thank you for your prayers as we come alongside this ministry to share Jesus’ love!
Please also continue to pray for the finances to keep me on the field, and for the various others on my squad that are in need of finances to stay on the field as well. Consider sharing this with your family and friends who would be interested to know what we are doing, or who may be able to make a tax-deductible donation.
