The Garden

In the Garden of Eden, after God had created man and given him everything, there was a test. It was a test of trust, faith, and obedience. It came in the form of one rule, one exception to the everything. Do not eat from one tree, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Genesis 2:16-17.

See the thing is, I think I decided to play this game with God....God this is the garden of my life, and its yours. I trust you with everything.....ooooh except for this one tree. But in the grand scheme of things that's not so bad right? You can have all the other trees, and animals and what not, just leave that tree and the birds in it alone. I even built a fence around it so you would remember which tree is off limits.

So God and I have been playing that game for the past few years. But I've recently gotten the sense that neither of us are entirely satisfied with the arrangement. God and I decided to take a walk through the garden of my life and re-evaluate this tree situation.

God pointed out a few things to me. That tree that I was holding onto so close and personal actually wasn't doing so well. The birds were eating all the fruit, and it kind of had this barren look. Not a "its autumn and the leaves are falling off" kind of look. More of a "that thing might actually be dying" appearance. It was a little bit discouraging.

God told me "This tree needs a lot of work. Its not thriving, its barely alive. But its far from hopeless. I'm going to have to trim some branches, and get rid of those birds. But lets just take things slow and start by taking down the fence and letting me come closer. You may not understand what I'm doing, but I promise it will be more alive and more beautiful everyday you let me work on it."

Soooo I gave God the tree. I'm pretty happy with the decision.

I am released in this surrender
I am free in your captivity
Held not by chains, but by choice
This is peace I've never known

God is enough. "For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." 1 John 3:20

That Kind of Person

You know the kind of person that everyone wants to be around? The kind of person that makes every interaction worthwhile, and after every conversation you walk away encouraged? You know the kind of person that you rarely catch without a smile? The kind of person who feels the right emotion at the right time, and when in doubt they opt for happiness? You know the kind of person who makes each friendship feel like the most important one? The kind of person who's really too busy to spend time with you, but does anyways because they make people a priority? Do you know someone who is so real, and at peace with themselves? Someone who is willing to admit to their shortcomings, but because of you they are you don't notice any, and if you did you would never point them out? Do you know someone who actually inspires you and challenges you to become the best version of yourself? I don't know very many people like that. I'm fortunate to have a few in my life. You're one of them, so thanks for being that kind of person.