PLANTED



Bobbie & Dalles Perrin



Even though I am a child born and raised in the Texas Panhandle, I absolutely LOVE trees.  I love going places that have trees, and I am extremely jealous of those of you who have plenty of trees in your yard.  My family and I have roughly 50 trees in our yard; unfortunately, for the most part they are all shorter than I am, and sadly we have lost about 5 large trees due to the drought.  Even though my husband and I built our dream home a few years ago, I often dream of buying a place close to some water, maybe by the lake, or with a pond right out front, so that my love for trees could be easily fostered.

Any of you who know much about gardening know that spring is one of the best times to plant trees. The weather is optimal for getting those baby roots established before the heat of the summer takes hold. Other than tree planting, I have often found that spring brings along many things to keep one busy. Nice Weather, spring cleaning, spring projects, weddings, graduations, wrapping up the end of the school year, mother’s day, you name it, Spring consistently turns out to be a very busy time of the year for our family.

This spring I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’m sure that this year’s list of spring commitments was no longer than last years, but this time I found myself wondering where to draw the line. I often found myself talking to God asking him what it was that he wanted me to mark off my list. In fact, a time came where I simply said to him, “something has to give”.  In that moment, I remembered just a few short months ago that I was asking him to show me more ways to be a ministry to others and here I was asking him to take back the very thing I had asked for.

Well, one of the things I do love about spring is being outdoors. I never feel closer to God than when I can feel the breeze on my face and the birds singing.  As I proceed with this daily conversation of “Okay God, I’m feeling too busy”, “feeling over committed”,  I’m outside watering my freshly planted trees, I start to hear him whisper to my spirit…..You’re not too busy……You’re not grounded….You’re just not planted….

PLANTED!!!!! Holy Toledo is he ever right. In all my busyness and hurriedness, trying to get my one million things on my to do list done, I was forgetting to plant myself next to the King, and nourish my roots with his ever divine presence.  Forgetting that in all my “busyness”, my roots are just as likely to dry out and suffer from the drought, as the many trees did last year from the lack of rain. As much as the trees need water, my soul needs the King before I can ever even dream about fulfilling his will for my life.  So ask yourself today….Where am I planted????

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord: Whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends its roots out by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought, and never fails to bear fruit.” ~Jeremiah 17:7-8

Bobbie Perrin