Remember the Joyce Kilmer poem, "Trees"? As young children, most of us read it and perhaps we were even asked to memorize it. "I think that I shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree."
As I write this post, I am looking out our front window at the two huge ash trees, which are the total landscape features of our double-width front yard. Tomorrow, they will be gone. They have become the first victims, in our neighborhood, of the dreaded ash bore. Tree experts predict that 90% of the ash trees in the Midwest will succumb to the disease and most of the older neighborhoods, in our area, will be "ash-trees-less", in 5-8 years. Our trees are infected and because we can't afford to risk having them fall on our home or cars, or us, they have to be removed.
The tree-man and his crew are coming tomorrow. They have promised to remove all traces of the two, nearly 60 year old trees. They are even going to grind the stumps.
We will miss their shade and protection. We'll be sad about losing the sight of their brilliant yellow beauty in the autumn. However, we will be able to quit losing sleep over the possibility of a smashed car and/or house roof, by their absence.
Yes, we will certainly miss them.
The trees teach a lesson and it is a lesson that we all learn as we grow older. Nothing lasts forever. Nothing remains the same. Diapers are a phase. Cranky and moody teenagers grow up. Jobs come and go. We live, we die. Change is a fact of life.
Gracious and all knowing Lord. Your steadfast love endures forever. You are the constant, in our ever changing existence. Our lives are never going to stay the same. However, our faith in You sustains us, as we experience our ups and downs. Life is a cycle. Watch over us and keep us strong.
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