Like the Live Oak

“Some people love dogs; I love trees,” my friend shared with our group a while ago. She said she names the trees in her neighborhood, and I thought that was sweet.

So, while I was out on my walk the next day, I started looking at the trees and considering what names they should have. This one reminds me of that stern, elderly man in my church growing up – Dale. This one is squatty and fat, but with a vibrant green spread on top – LaOuida. This young thing is still holding its arms close, afraid to branch out – Timmy.

But we have this cool kind of tree down here in South Texas: the Live Oak. For the record “live oak” doesn’t mean the opposite of a dead oak. It’s a particular type of oak, and they are some of the coolest trees ever. They grow all haywire in fascinating swirls around the yard. And not just the branches at the top – the trunks themselves are all catawampus. Some (like the one in this picture) almost look like two freakish trees melded together. It's not unusual to see the trunk split about two feet up and one side or the other start leaning almost perpendicular to the ground. I have no idea why. Maybe hunting for some sunshine? 

And they are HUGE. They must have remarkable root systems to support so much weight all leaning to one side. I look at some of them and think I’d be afraid to let my kid climb on even the largest of their branches because surely any extra pounds would send that thing crashing to the ground.

But no. They stand strong for years and years. And they flower and bear “fruit”. They thrive.

I could give names to these trees. I won’t share the names here, but I have names. People I grew up with whom I always had on the "naughty list" but who now amaze me in their walk with Christ. Extended family members with juicy backstories who in their later years have turned back to the faith of their youth. Children of dear friends who are even now wandering away from truth and breaking their parents’ hearts.

Not all believers grow consistently straight toward the sky like your standard tree. Many of us turned sharp corners, reaching waywardly toward something else that seemed to offer us sustenance and satisfaction. Some of us walked divided paths – part of our hearts moving in one direction and part in a very different one, not completely conscious of the dissonance we were living. Several of us started one way and wound back another way, searching desperately for “up”. And sadly, a few of us wandered too far off the track and crashed altogether.

But we did not all crash. For many of us, if you looked from the outside at the route of our faithwalks, you would be amazed we are still on the road at all. But here we are.

And the secret to that? Our roots.

Mommas and daddies, do not grow weary of doing good with your babies . . . of teaching truth . . . of modeling faith . . . of loving unconditionally . . . of pointing to Christ over and over and over. Those roots are strong and run deep. And at the proper time, they will reap a harvest – a LIVE Oak, fruitful and beautiful, standing into eternity.