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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: COUNT (01/27/22)
The majestic beauty of an oak tree is to be seen to be appreciated. It's branches are close knit and its foliage always green and profuse. It's acorns fall around and little baby oak trees sprout under its shade. Hurricanes are the natural destroyer of oak trees. One day a hurricane hit my favorite one that grows on our farm. Watching the massive tree topple over and crash, my heart breaks. When calm returns, I survey the damage done.

And there amidst the broken branches and torn leaves, I find a baby tree. Barely eighteen inches tall and sporting just ten leaves, he is ready to face the challenges of life. Having lost the protection and shade of the parent tree, I wonder if he will survive.

Years later I return to the farm. I walk around searching for the little tree. There he stands, not the little one anymore, but a mighty oak. He had overcome the severe heat of summer, the frost of the winter and the fierce storms. He is a personification of victorious survival. Gazing in wonder at that tree, I remember St. James' s words,
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides........Let it do its work so you become mature and well developed not deficient in any way. (James 1:2, Message.)"

I realize that what the hard work to sustain life does for the physical growth of the oak tree, trials , stress and tests does for the spiritual growth of the human mind. In my own life every time I overcome a spiritual battle, it gives me a little more strength to face the next. Therefore, I count it a joyous experience to face every trial and test in life with confidence and faith in God.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
C D Swanson 
02/04/22
Nicely done. Years ago, my husband and I owned a home that was surrounded by 15 huge Oak trees.

Well done,

God Bless~
Art Fahy 
02/09/22
Good job. As you said we grow through our trials. Good job.