Underneath it all

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The trees are in the process of covering their exposed parts as they are donning a new coat of green for the spring.

The stark intricate patterns of limbs and branches will soon sport a new shape; a rounded green leafy silhouette hiding the skeleton beneath.

Every year when the leaves fall I am again struck by the complexity of the wooden network that's been hidden for three seasons. How limbs branch out and divide and split until they are but small twigs. There's a beauty in that underlying composition.

What lies underneath in us?
We cover ourselves with the leaves of positions, responsibilities, and general busyness but if all that were to fall away who are we under it all? Is all the greenery support by a strong heart? A solid spirit? A network of beliefs and convictions that make up who we are?

Most seasons we are covered in our leaves but occasionally they are blown away – by some type of storm in our lives; then we see who are and the condition of what lies beneath.

In all your busyness and producing, don’t forget to nourish your heart.

“I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)

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