The Trees and the Woods are Alive

6-2-62.  

Our transformed and renewed tree of life. 

The woods are still alive and growing. 

That was the birthdate of a new family tree. 62 years ago. On 6-2. In ‘62. 

Mom was eighteen, Dad was twenty-one, and this new family took its first breath of life. Through the years, this young family tree grew. New branches and additional branches were grafted in. Sadly, two of the family were lost. Tim in ‘96 and Dad in ‘20. The tree looks a lot different than it did in 6-2-62. Growth, loss, and new growth. Slowly over time, new stories are written while old stories fade. As I walk in the family woods, the trees look different, but the woods are alive and growing.  

I think of that tree that came to life in 1962 when my parents became a family. They were continuing a legacy given to them. And they passed that legacy on. Thirty-one years later Jill and I breathed life into our own new family tree. New branches were added, and the Tree of life continues to move our legacy forward. 

Romans twelve is a favorite of mine. In this passage, we are reminded to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing, as a form of true and proper worship. Ours is not to conform. Ours is to be transformed as our minds are renewed daily. Our bodies are sacrifices. Our minds are renewed. Our spirits help us discern the good, pleasing, perfect will of God. This is the root of our tree of life. Our legacy.  

We have our genetic family trees and our grafted family trees. We also have this one Great Family Tree of Life. We, humanity, share this world. We do not own this world or any part of it. We are simply stewards of it. We do not own these lives of our legacy; we are simply participants in life and carriers of this legacy.  

Our family trees look different than they did before, and they will continue to change with years of growth, loss, and new growth. The woods are alive, and here we are. Together in these woods. We were raised by these woods, and these woods will continue to raise new life. May we live our lives transformed and renewed daily. May we look to the Source of Life daily. May we seek the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God who brings life to our woods of humanity in this world so loved. May we breathe deeply and gratefully for this legacy of life and love.