A New Year, and A Fresh Start

One of the beautiful aspects of our cottage is large trees, mostly maple with some oak, birch and walnut mixed in, all reaching 15-20m into the sky! The shade these trees provide is particularly welcome on those hot, steamy summer days.

However, after a strong winter storm like the one that blew through Central Ontario last Sunday, the reports of trees falling and causing widespread power outages can be cause for concern. So today, New Year's Day, given that thousands of people are still without power days after the major winds blew through, we made the trek to Georgian Bay to check on the cottage.

Driving along the 400 and highway 93, it was amazing to see so many trees were snapped in half. Even more astounding was the number of trees lying on the ground with their root balls in the air! One couldn't help but be concerned about what we would find at the cottage. When we arrived, we were relieved to see all of our trees still standing, only some broken branches on the snow.

Wikiopedia, with a great write-up on roots, notes the two major functions of roots are 1.) absorption of water and inorganic nutrients and 2.) anchoring the plant body to the ground. Clearly, for the fallen trees, the roots systems were not up to anchoring the tree through gale force winds. Epic Fail! For others, the root system held, even though the tree itself snapped... painful, but still with the opportunity to sprout new growth in the spring.

As we have now stepped into a new year, it's a good time to pause to consider: what about our root systems? Are they up to anchoring us through the gale force winds blowing through our economy? Large institutions have failed, or are teetering on the brink of falling over. Bad news flies at us like recurring snow storms!

With the start of the new year, I started YouVersion's 1-year plan to read through the Bible. Today's reading included Psalm 1:

1. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

How do we ensure our root system can anchor us through the storm? By delighting in the law of the Lord. Join me for the 1-year journey through the Bible, to develop your root system to withstand the storm. Be ready to be transformed in the process.