Love and encouragement help tree to thrive
Some friends of mine decided to plant a tree in their yard. They loved the idea of watching it grow. It would provide shade for the front of their house and part of their yard.
They took good care of the tree. They watered it. They put stakes around it when the trunk was small so it wouldn’t blow over in the wind. They loved checking on it and watching it grow.
By the second year, the tree had grown bigger. They imagined how beautiful it would be by the time it was full grown. The third year it didn’t grow much. The leaves were plentiful but small.
They began to wonder why their tree wasn’t growing. The next spring, they fertilized it. The leaves grew bigger and the tree looked healthier. Fertilizer must have been what it needed. Their excitement grew as they thought about how big and beautiful the tree would become.
By the next year, the tree was not looking so good. Healthy branches grew on one side. On the other side, the branches were dead. A vertical crack formed in the trunk. What could have happened to the tree they had imagined would shade their yard so beautifully?
They called in a tree expert, who examined the tree and delivered bad news. The tree had developed a fungus. The fungus was making it hard for the tree to grow. If the tree managed to survive, its lopsided leaves probably would not balance out. Its trunk stood little chance of healing. They should probably cut it down.
The couple looked at each other, saddened that the dreams for their tree seemed to be dying. Should they follow the expert’s advice and cut it down? The thought tore at their hearts. The tree had tried so hard to live. What if they gave it one more year? Maybe it could overcome the fungus and return to health.
Even though they didn’t feel too hopeful, they decided to give the tree another year. It might be able to grow new branches to replace the dead ones. Each day they spent time by the tree, talking about how much they loved having it in their yard and how they hoped it would be able to thrive.
The following year, they watched in amazement as the tree began to grow taller and wider. The side with all the dead branches started to grow new, healthy branches. The trunk began repairing itself. The tree was beginning to thrive! Every year it looked better and better. Today, it shades the front of their house and their yard just as they imagined it would when they planted it.
All it needed was their love and encouragement and enough time to recover so it could grow strong and healthy again. Sometimes that’s all any of us need – love and encouragement so we can recover and thrive.