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We recently launched Young Life (a Christian Youth program focused on introducing teenagers to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith) in our local High School. We were blessed to find an amazing leader to run the program for us. Quickly after she started, she wrote this incredible article that I feel connects closely with our Family Treedition mission. Check out her great message about being rooted in the lords word and he will do the rest....
Last week I got the chance to rest at a solitude retreat (48 hours of silence, it was amazing!!) and I wanted to share some of my experience there to encourage you.
From the start, I had trouble resisting productivity and began to ponder the words "be" and "do". It became obvious that I have recently been driven and defined by what I do instead of who I am in the Lord. At one point I sat in a field and stared at trees for 3 hours, because what else do you do at a solitude retreat? It was a windy day and from my vantage point it looked like the trees were dancing in the wind. I began to think about it in a spiritual sense, the trees being people and the wind being the Holy Spirit. My mind was so framed around "doing" that I thought to myself that the trees needed to position themselves in a place to encounter the wind - they needed to do what was in their power to "reach" the wind. This thought process was entirely wrong when looking at the laws of nature! A tree is planted and rooted in one spot and does not have the power to get to the wind in its own ability. The wind is unpredictable and mysterious, it chooses to go where it wants. The tree's only responsibility is to be rooted in its place and to simply receive the wind. When it encounters the wind, the tree then rejoices and moves.
As a believer I don't need to work to get to the Lord, Jesus did that work for me through the cross and resurrection. He has chosen me, he pursues me, and he refreshes me. It is my encounter with him that drives me to hope for others to know him and to work with Jesus in this longing.
I hope you are encouraged by this truth - I am praying for each of you to be rooted in the Lord and to rest and rejoice in knowing that He pursues you and finds you where he has planted you.
"The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word**. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!" Isaiah 55:10-12 (**"word" = Jesus, John 1:1-5)
M Rue
Happy Mother’s Day!
You’re doing a wonderful job parenting your precious children, but this month let your family show you how much they appreciate all your hard work and dedication.
Family, here is how...