It’s Friday so I’m writing off the cuff … spending five minutes just pouring words on page and joining the community of writers who do the same each week.
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We spent several years in South Georgia where there are, essentially, two kinds of trees: live oaks and pines. The pine trees grow tall but not always straight. They are bent and swayed by the winds common to coastal areas. A casual drive around almost always reveals a few of the pines snapped and fallen.
But those live oaks—glorious, spread out, moss draped wonders of the deep south—they stand firm. Hundreds of years old, majestic, and steady in the storms.
What’s the difference? The roots. The pine trees roots go deep but straight down. The live oak roots, also go deep, but they spread wide and far, creating bumps and peeking through the ground.
Taking care of the yard when you have pine trees is fairly easy: pick up the pine straw and deposit it on your flower beds for mulch, then mow. But when you have live oaks, well, that’s a whole other thing. The roots interfere with conveniently cutting grass, the massive reach of the trees and density of the leaves can make even having grass a challenge all it’s own. The roots of one live oak get bound up with the roots of another until there’s no way to tell which roots belong to which tree. It can be a mess … but those trees are solid.
Two types of trees, two types of roots. One survives the storms, but one typically does not.
Makes me think … what kind of roots do I have? Long and deep but not intertwined with others? The kind that will leave me at the mercy of life’s storms?
Or, are my roots deep and wound up tight with the roots of others? Messy and inconvenient at times but firm in the storm, bound together with those around me?
What kind of roots do you have?
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It’s Five Minute Friday time … and I’m joining the lovely Lisa-Jo and all my other writing-without-editing friends to take five minutes and just write. This week’s topic is, obviously, roots. Read what others have written by visiting Lisa-Jo.
Hi TerriLynne! Those were among the same thoughts I had! I just love how unique God is and how it all manages to work together. I pray I have deep roots that yes, are entwined with others, even in the messiness, so that we can each withstand the storms of life. Thanks for being right before me at FMF! Have a blessed day!!!
Lori recently posted…Roots that go deep
Thank you, Lori! What an encourager you are! Heading now to read your post!!
YES! So well said! I want those strong, thick, and deep kind of roots to weather the storms! Thank you for the challenge again to keep being intentional and deep in my relationships. Found your from FMF today 😉
Thank you, Charissa, for taking the time to comment. What a gift that is!!
Oh yes, same thoughts but I love your perspective on comparing the 2 trees… I want my roots deep but also spread out! Great writing here Teri!
visiting from five minute friday. http://www.ordinaryinspirations.blogspot.com
Thank you, Traci!! We need to be deep and wide, don’t we? I was thinking my life is to be deep in love with Him, wide in love with others. Wouldn’t that be a great testimony??
Love those live oaks and there roots sticking up all over the place. They have endurance and beauty and that gorgeous Spanish moss, even though it is a parasite. That’s definitely what I want to be, hanging on during the fiercest hurricane and flood and still going strong for the long haul. You took me back to Louisiana this morning. Thank you. (It was so much fun to meet your spunky self this past weekend. I wish I’d had more time to get to know you better.)
Amy Tilson recently posted…These Roots Run Deep
Oh Amy, I wish we’d had more time too. There is never enough, is there?
And, about the live oaks and spanish moss … so many parable opportunities there, huh???
http://freshbrewedwriter.blogspot.com/2012/11/roots-and-wings.html I went a different direction…although if I’d thought about it, I could also have written about how the birch trees here don’t have deep roots, but wide, because of the Alaskan permafrost…
Headed over to read your post now … amazing isn’t it, how words can mean so many things. I spent one minute of my five trying to decide if I wanted to write about the roots in my family and how though we’re all spread out far and wide, there’s a little town in the Missouri Bootheel that calls us home …
Understanding nature can really teach us a lot about ourselves, can’t it? I have written about roots before in a devotion called Giant Redwoods. (It’s on my blog in the Everyday God section.) Love the application to our spiritual lives.
Impressed with your writing on 5 Minute Fridays with not editing and not planning it out. Good job!
Kari Scare recently posted…Staying Committed, Part 4 of 5 – Guidelines for Godly Commitment