Last night, during what seemed like a moderate storm, the biggest sturdiest tree in my backyard succumbed to the destructive winds. When the tree came crashing down on my shed, my son and I just stood in amazement. Me, with some amazing shriek I’ve never heard out of me. My teenage son, with an amazing quick covering of his mouth, using both his hands to physically mute himself.  Never being in a situation like this one before, I drew from the wisdom of lessons I had learned from Sunday School and Church. And, it worked.

1. Sometimes You Just Don’t See It Coming.
If anyone had told me this particular tree would be the first to fall in my backyard, I would not have believed them. Even my resident chipmunks were having a discussion this morning, looking up at their favorite tree in amazement.

When my friend came over and looked at the damage, he said “It’s like God just snatched it out from the root.” What I learned from Sunday School is that sometimes that happens in life. You can just be completely uprooted, leaving nothing familiar. When that happens, it can be a catalyst to reassess, reprioritize, restart.

Tree Uprooted From The Ground

2. Pray With a Believing Heart.  Then Wait.

There Was More Storm But God Saved Our Home

I wanted to “do” something. Call and have an emergency team come and make sure everything was okay and clean it up and make it better by morning. Swing on a spiderman string and push the remaining part of the tree back away from the house. Something darn it! Well, after I couldn’t think of what to else I , a mere mortal, could do – I decided to pray. I prayed. Real hard. Not like “if you think you can, could you” prayer…but “I know you can, please do!” kind of praying. I got my son to pray. I asked others to pray.  Then, which is one of the hardest things for me to do, I had to wait. Because everyone said I should leave the house until I was sure anymore tree wasn’t going to come down, we went out to dinner and a movie. A great movie, in fact, that had strong themes about living your life through and after disappointment.

3. Give Thanks

Do I know how I am going to pay for clean up? No. Do I have it all figured out? NO. But, what I do know is my son’s life, my life, and my home were spared for a reason and I have to make sure I give thanks, let someone know, and live my life today with a smile.