How is your Family Tree growing?

I love gardening and keeping plants, trees, and flowers growing an blooming!  As I was watering some of our plants and trees, I began thinking about parts of a message I heard at church a few Sundays ago.  Our  1st area of reflecting God is with our family.  So  as I was watering I began to think about family trees. 

We can all draw out our Family Tree.  The biological Family Tree.  I sat and thought about my life and decided that a Family Tree is so much more than the biological branches.  I have seen many branches of family trees wither and die.  It could be because other branches cut them off from the source of nutrition, the other branches become so controlling that they selfishly cause the branch to be cut of from the rest of the tree.  Or the branch could die because it is diseased.  But the sad thing is, rather than reach out to save the branch, it is allowed to die.  So very sad when either of these scenario's happen.

We also have our secondary branches.  These are the family members that are perhaps not part of our main branch, such as cousins.  I am lucky to have come from a family (Mothers) that is full of these branches.  Many of my cousins feel more like brothers and sister than cousins!  I am the youngest of my immediate family so had many older cousins to raise me! 

On the other hand, there is also graphing. Many branches in my "Family Tree" are graphs!  Today we had three teenagers from our community walk in and ask "Mom, I'm hungry!  You have anything to eat?"  Of course we did and welcomed them to eat.  This is not an unusual occurrence in our home.  People of a great variety are welcomed as part of our "tree".  I also know who I can call and vent to, cry to and with, and just relax with.  I have many "branches" that will be there in a split second if I need! 

Occasionally, a branch must be pruned off of a diseased tree and replanted to grow a stronger and thriving tree.  I do this with my Plumeria trees.  Prune a branch off and watch a new, stronger tree grow! This is something that you may have to decide.  Stay and wither with the diseased tree or plant yourself in fertile soil to grow and bloom!

So, how is your tree growing?  It is our responsibility to keep our tree strong.  First, we must live God like within our families.  We need to nurture all of our branches, even the diseased ones.  They may do their best to damage the tree but hopefully, by showing them God's love, they will become a strong part of the tree again.  But, they may die anyway or we may need to remove ourselves from their disease. Either way, we must follow God's message and will.  God's love will endure forever...


  "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
 1 Chronicles 16:34