roots

chimney tops trail, smoky mountains 1993

i remember reading about planting trees. the article advised it is better not to stake saplings so that when the rough winds come, their roots can do their job and dig deep to steady the growing tree. do you see a metaphor to marriage? 

for a christian, there is rooting down deep whilst looking up. our strength does not come from our spouse. it comes from above. from the Creator of night and day. and as for the staking, that comes from something known as leaving and cleaving. heard of it?

well, there is this passage in genesis that says, "for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two will become one flesh." perhaps you have never heard such a thing. the inspiration behind this writing, i assume, is so that the two can be grafted together like an arborist might do when trying for a new species of tree. 

here's the thing. marriage is hard. my family tree is full of divorce. the man i wed 18 years ago today, has roots that were lost too soon through death. neither of us pretend to have much figured out when it comes to marriage except this. you better dig deep. stubbornly deep. unflinchingly so. when the rough winds come, and they will, you sure do want to be firmly planted.

chimney tops trail, smoky mountains 2013

cancer, many moves, death of a parent and several job losses are but a few of our rough winds. and we've not even been married that long. there will be more. {i bet hallmark doesn't write an anniversary card about that}. 

so we continue to dig deep so our roots can spread. anchored to truth. always looking up. 

and speaking of roots{see them in photos?}, these two photos were taken 20 years apart at the same exact place along the chimney tops trail. 

if you had told those dazed young lovers what they had waiting for them, they would have never, like never, believed you. it's probably good they didn't know.

here's to many more years of digging deep with this man o' mine. happy anniversary, Mister.

xo,

gf