The Branch

In our front yard is a corkscrew willow tree. If you didn't know any better you would assume that we had purchased the tree at a garden center somewhere. However, this tree has an unusual story. We call it "The Grandma Tree". When my husband's maternal grandmother died there was a flower arrangement at her funeral that included several small branches of a corkscrew willow. The arrangement was taken home to my in-law's house and it began to die out. But then something interesting started taking place. The branches began to shoot out leaves and roots. After a family dinner my husband decided to take one home and try to plant it in our yard to see if an actual tree would grow from it. I remember laughing and thinking my husband would never get it to grow. Why would he want to spend his time on such a spindly little thing? That tree is now about twenty feet tall!! When I remember this small branch I think about what Jesus says about branches in the book of John.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:5-8

I am like the branch. There are times in my life that I try to do things by myself. I cut myself off from my Lord and Savior and go out on my own. I forget to read my Bible, going to church takes a back seat to other activities and my conversations with God come to a halt. Jesus' words are the truth. My activities and busyness do not fulfill me. What the world has to offer can never feed me in the way he does. What's amazing is that God is always there when we come back. No matter how many times we drift away he waits for us to return. As my husband tended that small branch so does God tend us. Through him we can grow and become strong like that tree in our yard. We can bear fruit for his glory!