When we first moved into my parents current house, there were two palm trees catty corner from each other at the front of the driveway. They were young trees and not much taller than I was at ten. Some friends of ours had some friends who were looking for some palm trees. I guess my dad didn't want to keep the palms, so a plan was devised to uproot the trees and transplant them to a new location. Now there were three men who set about to accomplish this task: my dad was in his forties and the other guys were fit twenty somethings. They had shovels and in case the work was too laborious they were prepared with a chain and pick up truck to pull the trees out.
They went to work, digging at first, but soon (maybe an hour in) realized that their digging wasn't doing the trick. They decided to use the truck and chain. It didn't work so well at first, but about three hours later palm tree number one had been uprooted. The men were exhausted. Tree number two is now at least twice my height in my parents' yard.
We learned a valueable lesson that day about the root systems of palm trees. It made a lot of sense thinking about how they still stand tall after they face high winds. For some reason I can picture news footage of hurricane reports from Florida with palm trees bending, but not breaking or being uprooted, in my head.
Reading Psalm 92:12 made me think a bit more about palm trees today. Psalm 92:12-15 says: "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in their old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, 'The Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him.'"
I love this passage! I too want to be like a flourishing palm tree or a great cedar of Lebanon. I have been planted in Christ and want to flourish by walking in the fullness of His Spirit. O to bear fruit in my old age, to be sappy and fresh, full of abundant life-this is my desire. And to proclaim Him, my Lord, the upright One, my Rock for there is no wickedness found in Him. He is the Holy One of heaven! O Lord may it be so until You return or call me home. You are worthy!
[I originally posted this from my phone...please forgive me if I missed any mistakes.]
They went to work, digging at first, but soon (maybe an hour in) realized that their digging wasn't doing the trick. They decided to use the truck and chain. It didn't work so well at first, but about three hours later palm tree number one had been uprooted. The men were exhausted. Tree number two is now at least twice my height in my parents' yard.
We learned a valueable lesson that day about the root systems of palm trees. It made a lot of sense thinking about how they still stand tall after they face high winds. For some reason I can picture news footage of hurricane reports from Florida with palm trees bending, but not breaking or being uprooted, in my head.
Reading Psalm 92:12 made me think a bit more about palm trees today. Psalm 92:12-15 says: "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in their old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, 'The Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him.'"
I love this passage! I too want to be like a flourishing palm tree or a great cedar of Lebanon. I have been planted in Christ and want to flourish by walking in the fullness of His Spirit. O to bear fruit in my old age, to be sappy and fresh, full of abundant life-this is my desire. And to proclaim Him, my Lord, the upright One, my Rock for there is no wickedness found in Him. He is the Holy One of heaven! O Lord may it be so until You return or call me home. You are worthy!
[I originally posted this from my phone...please forgive me if I missed any mistakes.]
This is one of my favorite verses and definitely a passage I pray for all of the girls whom I have the privilege of ministering to. I love how you gave a new depth to this passage by explaining (from experience) how deep the root systems for palm trees must go. I've never really thought about how deeply rooted they were... I've only thought about how tall and majestic they tend to be. Thanks again for your thoughts and the new depth to this passage!
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