Trees and Trials

Lately, I've thought a lot about trees. Maybe it's because I just read an awesome article "The Best Time to Plant a Tree"  by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), or maybe it's because of all the majestic Douglas Firs here in Oregon. Either way, I have trees on the brain.

I was reading in Alma 32 the other day, and the thought struck me "What if a seed decided it wasn't even going to try to sprout because it was too scared the rain would beat it down or a lawnmower would chop it into oblivion?" As I look out the window at all the trees, I can't help but  think "Way to go little seed! You did it! You faced the trials of life and you came out conqueror! You made it."

I don't want to be the seed that is too afraid to sprout. I want to grow into the person God created me to be. In his "tree" article, President Uchtdorf reminds us "You don't need to wait for permission to become the person you were designed to be." He goes on to say that although the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now. So today, I will plant a seed. I will plant the seed of who I want to be.

*What seed will you plant today? Who do you want to be?*

I don't expect the seed of who I want to be to grow into the tree of me overnight. I recognize that it will take time and effort. I recognize that sometimes, I will fail. President Uchtdorf says, "We almost certainly will fail—at least in the short term. But rather than be discouraged, we can be empowered because this understanding removes the pressure of being perfect right now." It is okay to fall down every now and then. When a toddler first learns to walk we certainly don't punish him when, after a few wobbly steps, he tumbles to the ground. We applaud his effort and encourage him to try, try again. Likewise, our Heavenly Father is patient with our "wobbly steps". 

When trials come and the rains pour, I think of this poem (one of my personal favorites):

GOOD TIMBER

By Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

But stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

To gain and farm his patch of soil,

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air,

Never became a manly man

But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease:

The stronger wind, the stronger trees;

The further sky, the greater length;

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars

Whose broken branches show the scars

Of many winds and much of strife.

This is the common law of life. 

As we happily endure this life, may we be ever mindful that we are in the Maker's hands. He is shaping us into what He knows we can become.