I'm Just a Simple Tree

Over the last four months I have been involved in the most eye-opening bible study of my life. Lead by three amazing ladies and accompanied by many more, we set out every Tuesday morning to discuss the meaning of life and improve our life stories. Donald Miller, the author of the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, presented me with the idea that each of us is a tree in a much bigger forest. Each one of our lives in a small part of a bigger story! God has really been drilling this into my mind the last four months.We focused on the idea that each of us has a story, and even though every story is different the author is the same. God has placed us here on this earth to create chapters in the most beautiful story ever told! Not only that, he has put us here to create these chapters with each other!! The author of the universe is the same author of love and friendship, suffering and joy...the author of life and death. And I tell you what, at 7:30 in the moring it was quite the feat to accomplish such in depth conversations. Yet every morning I would walk away feeling like I was a part of something bigger than myself. Every one of these ladies pushed me to live a better story, one that matters and makes a difference.

To make a long story short, at the beginning of this bible study I was going through a lot. Life was just throwing me obstacles to jump over. My first response wasn't to pray and rely on God. Actually the thought of going to a bible study and putting my heart on the line absolutely terrified me. So I took a leap of faith and introduced myself and laid everything out on the table right away. I figured if they didn't seem to like what I was going to say or thought that I was too depressed for their group, I could walk away and never see any of them again. Turned out, it didn't matter that I didn't have it all figured out. Everyone was in the same river I was, just paddling in different boats. I found that trusting God to lead me instead of relying on myself, turned out to be the difference between spiritual life and death. Every one of those trees in my corner of the forest lent me their roots!

God has really been showing me that Christian community is an essential part of the Christian experience. If we have this idea that we can make it on our own, then the real body of Christ would never have an opportunity to shine its light. Every one of us gets caught up in our own struggles, but God shows us through those struggles we can overcome anything. But we have to be willing to let other people in. Nobody can do life on their own. It’s just not possible. The experiences that we gain when we share life with other people far outweigh the mundane experiences we face on our own each day. I learned that through Christian community we can build each other up and push each other to make those difficult life choices. Through community we are able to show what the real love of Christ is all about. Every one of us was interested in the life of the person sitting next to us. We had a desire to be there for each other. Through that community I was encouraged to ask the questions that don't seem to have answers, only to find out other people had the same questions. And most of all, community taught me to not sit back and let life happen to me. I was forced to get up every morning with the intention of making my story better so I didn't come to group the next week feeling like a slacker. It's SO great that God gives us other people in our lives we can depend on. Sometimes when we feel God isn't walking with us, that community is a refreshing reminder God is right there leading the way. 

Thank you ladies for making this last four months possible!! I'm so honored to be a tree in the forest with you all!