There are multiple trees in my back yard. Each of them has a story:<\/p>\n
The beautiful\u00a0maple tree<\/strong>\u2014an Autumn Blaze that sits squarely at the mid-point of our back yard property line allowing for site-lines from all of our backyard windows. My parents gave me this tree for my birthday 12 years ago when Heidi and I first moved into our place. We\u2019ve watched it take a long time to grow up (it\u2019s very wet where we planted it and we wonder if its growth was stunted in its early years).<\/p>\n Now 35 feet high with its leaves glistening majestically in the autumn sun<\/strong><\/span>\u2014this tree is true to its name. My dad loves trees and always makes a point to check on it when he comes to visit. It\u2019s certainly a special tree for me.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the blue spruce<\/strong><\/span> in the back corner of our property. I transplanted this tree when it was about 5 feet tall, from the front yard to the back yard. Although, it did have a quick couple years of speedy growth, it has recently shown signs of possibly not making it. From year to year, I do wonder if this will be its last.<\/strong> <\/span>The winters have been especially rough on it and I have had to rope it to our back fence to keep it upright. There are multiple \u201choles\u201d in the branches areas due to broken limbs over the years.<\/p>\n But I love the big blue spruce trees that I notice driving around Abbotsford, and I dream about one day seeing this tree \u201cmake it\u201d to this status.<\/p>\n Three years ago, a neighbour from down the road told us that we could have a willow tree<\/strong><\/span> that was dying in their back yard. We said sure, and before long, we were throwing it in the back of his truck to transplant it in our back yard. It was a tiny-by Weeping Willow standards-and it was hard to picture where it should go in our yard. I chose the wettest spot in terms of our yard\u2014a place where a lot of standing water gathers in the winter. Weeping Willows have shallow root systems that suck up water well.<\/p>\n Three years later, and the tree (like many willows) has grown at an incredible pace. It has also grown well into our neighbour\u2019s backyard\u2026so that\u2019s not being a good neighbour. Although this neighbour recently told me that it has solved his drainage issues in his yard\u2026<\/strong><\/span>so that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n I grew up climbing in two massive (at least from what I remember) Weeping Willows in the back yard of my childhood home. I remember the tree forts my dad built for us, and the shade that this willow provided and also all of the debris that we would complain about from the nasty Ontario winter storms. Great memories for sure. I look forward to continuing to nurture this tree into full growth.<\/p>\n Butterfly bushes<\/span><\/strong> (not quite a tree I know)\u2014we have two butterfly bushes in our back yard. Heidi bought one when we first moved to our home and the second\u2014a free seeder that just popped up one day and we let it grow into a beautiful backyard bush (don\u2019t google butterfly bushes and invasive species).<\/p>\n The first bush is situated right outside our dinner table window. We see it every day. In it, we see birds come and go during every season and we especially love the hummingbirds zooming in for the nectar of the first blooms in early spring.<\/strong><\/span> This bush has blown down twice from storms, we now have it propped up by the broken down branches. We work hard to keep it alive as it has seen much and provided much\u2014we love it.<\/p>\n I could actually go on and on\u2026because there are many more trees that have a story\u2026the cedars that keep growing despite others dying around them, the Rose of Sharon surrounding our back porch\u2026.<\/p>\n Recently, I listened to a podcast lecture from someone who had remarked that any goodness in this world has endured adversity*. He specifically related his talk to God\u2019s plans requiring suffering\u2014and he used a tree metaphor that stuck with me. It\u2019s true, trees endure many hardships. A lot of them don\u2019t even make it, but take a look at their beauty and goodness, especially as they mature into what they are meant to be.<\/p>\n I think of my Autumn Blaze that Heidi and I thought we may have planted in the wrong place. When we looked over the fences at our neighbours\u2019 maple trees\u2026we wondered why ours wasn\u2019t growing at the pace of theirs\u2019 (yes, my competitive nature can be a problem)<\/strong><\/span>, and yet when we look at the tree today\u2014especially in its radiant fall glory\u2014we are reminded of the beauty of God\u2019s good and amazing creation.<\/p>\n I love trees. They endure the challenges that nature throws at them in stride, they take on the many challenges that humans sometimes present to them and they provide shelter in the storm. Trees are an oasis to other wildlife in any season, beauty to the onlooker, they release oxygen into the air, shade in the heat of the summer, they can provide fruits and flowers\u2026okay, I\u2019ll stop now.<\/p>\n I do know the challenges they also present\u2014leaves, leaves and more leaves to rake up<\/strong><\/span>, gutter clean-up in the fall and winter, root damage to foundations that are built too close.<\/p>\n We are entering a new calendar year. The new year often causes us to pause and take pulse of our lives.\u2026mostly in the context of what we want to do, accomplish, and\/or pursue. Rarely do we hope for adversity or suffering,<\/span><\/strong> even though we recognize (but possibly don\u2019t fully understand) that it\u2019s a part of God\u2019s design for his people and His creation to go through some growing pains in order to come into full bloom.<\/p>\n As the book of Ecclesiastes wisely lays out, there is a time for everything. So, whatever the year presents for us, may we be like trees; enduring the hardships of nature, humans and other elements and yet provide goodness to those around it\u2014whether it is seen, felt, or appreciated.<\/p>\n Happy New Year!<\/p>\n *The lecture was from Calvin College\u2019s January Series<\/a>\u2014an award winning speaker series that I highly recommend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are multiple trees in my back yard. Each of them has a story: 1. MAPLE TREE The beautiful\u00a0maple tree\u2014an Autumn Blaze that sits squarely at the mid-point of our back yard property line allowing for site-lines from all of our backyard windows. My parents gave me this tree for my birthday 12 years ago […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":3940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-3931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3931"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=3931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. BLUE SPRUCE<\/h2>\n
3. WILLOW TREE<\/h2>\n
4. BUTTERFLY BUSHES<\/h2>\n
More than shelter and beauty<\/span><\/h2>\n
Into full bloom<\/span><\/h2>\n