“…They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green…” Jeremiah 17:7-8
As summer starts to wind down, my boys and I took a trip to Kentucky. What led us there was a dinosaur theme park which seems random, but after studying dinosaurs last year, I thought it may be a neat way to bring those lessons to life. After looking at Kentucky and the map of what was near this park we expanded the trip to include a look at Mammoth Cave, another site that takes you to some deep roots of American history and beyond. We found a place to stay in the heart of Kentucky on a farm and were set. When I was telling my mom about the trip, her jaw dropped when I told her the town we had found to stay in for it was in the same area her mother had grown up. The same place the heirloom zinnias our family has been selling likely first took root and I knew God had different plans for this trip than I originally expected. He had plans to take us back to our roots, deep family roots.
As we arrived in Kentucky, the beauty of the green rolling hills and fence lined properties welcomed us. While the pool and theme parks and gift shops may have been calling my sons, I couldn’t wait to step on some sacred ground where my grandma and her mother and my own mother once stood. My mom had sent me a cemetery directory where my great grandmother was buried along with several other relatives and sure enough I found it. The cemetery was intact and the church still standing and in good condition. My great grandmother died before my parents were even married, she didn’t know me, yet as I stood at her grave I wished she could come walking around the corner and invite me back to her farm to learn all about my grandma and my mom growing up and teach me things I may never have known. I would have loved to hear about all the ways God worked in her life and the struggles she had and how she overcame them, but instead all I could do was leave some of her zinnias lying by her grave and remind her that she was not forgotten.
When you plan a family road trip, it is kind of a miracle when it comes together. So many details to nail down, schedule to organize, and getting your house set up to leave for a few days while coordinating activities, packing, and making sure your vehicle is up and running in good order. Once you board that vehicle it should be full speed ahead and everyone smiling, right? But close quarters, heat, and long days for family can sometimes bring out the less favored sides and when you think we would all be smiling in front of the large dinosaur but are taking individual pictures by it because the picture wasn’t big enough for all of us….had me thinking about family. About roots…
“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” Proverbs 24: 3-4
This verse hangs in my dining room. I found it just as I was rebuilding our family many years ago. When God was teaching me what love was, what family is, and how to build the home I hoped to have. Some days even though I wake up in a “house” I can only see misunderstanding, and the treasures seem dusty and the problems common and I wonder what I am doing wrong? Other days there is a golden moment where I see that the work we have been putting in for days, weeks, months, and/or years is paying off and while I may not have a “treasure” to hold in my hand, I see a true miracle has occurred in a grand act of forgiveness, grace, or love and I realize what this verse is all about.
Sometimes we see families happy, smiling, and laughing and it portrays this image in our mind of what it is supposed to be.
But God…
He provided us with the Bible that shows us otherwise. He showed us the source of all of our roots and it isn’t laughter in the park while kids are swinging. No, our Biblical family roots are filled with adultery (David in 2 Samuel), death (Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi’s husbands in Ruth 1), murder (Cain in Genesis 4), envy (Joseph’s brothers in Genesis 37), greed (Jacob in Genesis 27), you name it. The sin was committed and it came before you and affected you, it affected all of us.
So as we made our way home last night, some emotions came undone in the car in the last hour and I got thinking about family roots….and roots in general. Those things that secure us when the wind comes, nourish us even in drought, stabilize us when the ground shakes, ground us through storms, and spread far and wide underneath the surface to places we didn’t even know they had been. Some roots we may feel prouder of than others, but all roots feed into who we are and send us where we are going. They are necessary, they are vital, they aren’t always pretty. In fact the roots are usually hidden and dirty, and a big pain to dig up when trying to plant new life. But…
“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” Revelation 21:5
We should embrace those roots! Honor those roots! Learn from those roots! They feed into the very being of who we are and why we are who we are. Let’s not waste the lessons, the stories, the mistakes, the blessings, let’s use them to carry the baton forward to the next generation as we usher in God’s kingdom. Let’s not pretend we have to be laughing and smiling all the time. This work is hard work and we were told to count it joy when we face trials of many kinds. Let’s carry on and persevere to the finish with gratitude of what those before us have done and ask God what He needs of us right now.
Father we surrender our roots to you. We know even Jesus himself was born into dirt-covered roots yet made all things new. Let us embrace our family, the ones you chose to go before us and come from us and dwell with us so that we may live your purpose on our lives and do the work you have called us to do no matter how difficult it may be. For you called us into being for such a time as this for the very relationships you have placed us in. Give us strength to persevere, wisdom along the way, and protect us as we move on the path you lay out. We love you, we trust you, and we need you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Roots
Show me the next step I should take.