Notes from the Ordinary- Vol.2

When we moved into our home nearly three years ago, it was in the middle of snowy February. Under a blanket of icy white, our home had many mysteries to be discovered with the upcoming seasons. One of the mysteries for me was the younger tree that graced our front yard. If you know me personally, it is likely that you also know my favorite color is red. Keeping true to my love of red, one of my favorite trees is a red maple, and I have always longed to have one of my own. Little compares to the fiery bright splendor that warms the world in its contrast against an autumn sky than that of a red maple. I am not a tree expert, so I wasn't one hundred percent certain that our new front yard tree was a maple, but I hoped, longed and wished that if it was, it would also be red. Spring came, and the tree branches became dotted with brand new buds. The buds soon swelled and unfolded into tiny, perfect leaves. MAPLE LEAVES. Again, not being a tree expert, I had no idea if there was a way to tell if this maple was a red maple or not, so I patiently waited. The first autumn in our home arrived, and the first signs of color change revealed red leaves on the tips of our maple's branches. I was thrilled! I had a red maple of my own! This felt like an unexpected gift. But as the next week or two progressed, the remainder of the tree's leaves changed to yellow. I hadn't paid enough attention to yellow maple trees to know that the first leaves that change color usually turn from green to red hues. Simple hope was dashed, and some days it doesn't take much after a long hard journey to be discouraged. Autumn 2015 was a disappointment.

I was prepared ahead of time for a yellow maple tree the second autumn in our home, so at least hope wouldn't be dashed. I began to plot our yard in my mind and plan a place for a future new tree, a red maple tree. If I wasn't gifted a red maple, I was going to plant one myself. We only live on a half acre, and the way our home is situated on our lot gives little place for another tree to grow, mature, and thrive. I turned it over and over again in my mind, but I couldn't find a viable place to plant a tree unless we wanted to sacrifice the humble fire pit, or the spot where we put up a small pool for our kids. One tree just for me was not worth the sacrifice of many things that our entire family enjoys. Autumn 2016 was also a busy time for our family with our firstborn getting married, so I didn't have a lot of time to sulk about yellow or red trees even though I confess that many times I wondered why the tree we currently have couldn't have just been red. How hard would it have been for the tree's planter to plant a glorious red maple instead of a plain ordinary yellow one? God surely would have known how much I would have loved red, and He knew at the time of planting that this would eventually be our home. It seemed so simple to me. Why not just this one thing, God? So many other big, hard, heart-wrenching things have paved our journey. Couldn't I have had just this one tiny thing that doesn't really even matter to anyone else in this world except for me? But it wasn't meant to be, and there was no way to fix it myself in the yard space we have. As silly as it seems, autumn 2016 held more disappointment.

I noticed several weeks ago that the autumn colors seemed to lack this year. Our family took a quick trip to southern Indiana to view the fall foliage, and it seemed to be the same there, as well. At home, our young tree did begin to faithfully change from red tips to blah yellow, and fall just felt flat. Many other life-deep, soul-deep things have been stirring, so the outside seemed to perfectly reflect my inner being. Then, autumn 2017 took me by surprise. Right in the middle of an ordinary morning on an ordinary day, I stepped onto our ordinary porch stoop, and looked up at our ordinary tree. Golden beauty literally took my breath away.This was a different fire than a fiery red maple. This tree shimmered dreamily with steadily glowing embers that cast a lovely golden hue over the entire corner of our yard, and I was frozen in its hush.

 Every single leaf changed from dull to vivid yellow overnight.

It was stunning, and it shamed me that I have been complaining about this tree for far too long. Honestly, I don't even need to bring myself to a place to try to embrace it. IT EMBRACED ME.

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL WAS RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES, AND I NEARLY MISSED IT BECAUSE IT WASN'T THE THING I WANTED IT TO BE.

How often do we do this in our lives? How often do we do this with God? I confess that I do this more often than I really want to admit. I scoff and complain about my circumstances. I grumble because I have this thing and I want that thing. I am bitter because our situation should be that way, but it's this way. I have thrown my fist in the air and stomped my feet demanding for something to change. Dear ones, I confess to you that I know I am missing beauty that's right in front of me. Life, just like this golden, glorious tree holds a precious lesson.

SOMETIMES, YOU HAVE TO GET UNDER A THING TO REALLY SEE ITS BEAUTY.










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