TITLE: From a Seed to a Tree (or He Said I'd be a Tree) By Clyde Blakely 04/07/07 |
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Dear Diary,
I awoke to find that I have been planted in the Master’s Garden. All around me are big, beautiful fruit trees and flowers of every kind. Some trees have small, with very small fruit on them. Others are still in bloom and, oh, how lovely. All those colors and the fragrance is incomparable. The Gardener visits each day and His smile brightens the entire garden.
I’ve been told I’m going to be a fruit tree too; an apple tree. But I’m nothing like the grownup trees. They have pretty petals and the beginnings of fruit. There is so much activity around them: buzzing bees, birds singing and nesting in their limbs, squirrels scurrying up and down, and animals resting in their shade. I am small and wrinkled, they sway gracefully above the ground, while I lie still beneath it. None of us new seeds look like the grownups, and we wonder how we will fulfill our destiny as those who were planted before us. But I do feel life within me.
There are countless others here with me. Some are also to be apple trees, while others are told they will bear different fruit. Some will be beautiful flowers; adding their fragrance for our Gardener. All of us have been told we will bring joy to all who come near us. I am so hopeful when I see all the buds, fruit, and activity around us.
It’s hard to believe that I will be like any of them, but they say the Gardener always tells the truth. So I will keep hoping and rely on my Gardener.
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Dear Diary,
Frustration: I still don’t look like a tree. Did I hear the Gardener wrong? What am I suppose to do; did I miss something I was to do? I know He said to wait patiently, but surely all this time of nothing is not the way it’s supposed to be. He told us the sun would help us sprout and grow, the rain water would nourish us, and He has fertilized to give us strength. So why do I look and feel the same?
I see the Gardener everyday. He patiently pulls weeds and tirelessly tends to all those who are growing. When I whisper my doubts to Him, He smiles and tells me that He sees me as a tree.
If the Gardener always tells the truth…how…why isn’t the truth happening?
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Dear Diary,
I heard today some of the others decided the Gardener had forgotten us. They are trying to change on their own. I saw them try to grown and produce fruit by their own efforts: nothing. Others just gave up and died. One of them believed he saw a bud, but it turned out to be a butterfly. It was sort of funny, in a way. I admit I was tempted to try to change and grow on my own, but I kept to the Gardner’s instructions.
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Dear Diary,
There was a storm here today. I looked for the Gardener but it was difficult to see Him as I think He was so far away.
Gardener, where you there?
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Dear Diary,
I felt so hopeless today. I’m finally growing some leaves, but it has taken so long. I want to be like the promise the Gardener gave me and the plan which He has for my life, but I felt like giving up. Even with these leaves I still don’t look much like an apple tree. I still remember the look in His eyes the day He planted me here. It is the same tender look that He gives me whenever He visits me here. I know that someone who cares so much for me wouldn’t lie to me. I’ve decided to trust Him. I certainly won’t be any worse off.
Gardener, I am yours. Do with me as You see fit; you gave me life by Your will.
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Dear Diary,
Today I heard some of the others have also decided to trust the Gardener. I don’t want to speak too soon, but I really do feel differently. I have strange energy inside me and I think a bud has begun to grown. When I see the Gardener now, I feel a wonderful new connection to Him and for the day when I’ll be able to show Him my gratitude by bearing fruit. I’m beginning to believe I will be one of His fruitful trees.
Gardener, I’m thankful for the way You always care for me.
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Dear Diary,
Today I produced my first fruit. My Gardener smiles on me and I can see He is pleased with the fruit I give to Him. I want to tell the new ones who have just been planted what joy I have and lessons I’ve learned. If I ask Him, He will show me the way to tell them. For now, I am glad I can show the world the beauty He created in me.
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Dear Diary,
Today my first apple was harvested by the Gardener. In a way it was kind of sad. But I think I heard singing coming from high above. I was told there were twelve new seeds in that apple but those seeds won’t be planted right away. I asked the Gardener why. He said that a seed must die first before it can be planted; otherwise it can never grow and bear fruit of its own.
I remembered when I first woke up in the Gardener’s presence. I didn’t know what I would become. I did not know if I would produce fruit. In truth, the Gardner’s truth, I did produce and will produce more through the Gardener’s care. How much I don’t know. I can count the seeds in an apple but only the Gardener can count the apples in a seed.
Gardener, I am grateful to be part of your garden. Help me to show the truth to the new seeds. I am yours forever!
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