What’s Behind Those Trees?

The view from my porch never gets old. Bird watching has become a spectator sport, including two pairs of binoculars. The hummingbirds create hours of entertainment. The bees quickly move from one flower to another. The rabbits feast endlessly on the clover. There’s an intermittent visit from a chicken, although I prefer they stay away from my flowers. Approximately once a week, there’s a noticeable shift in what’s starting to bloom and the one that’s reaching the end. The treetops dance even when there appears to be no breeze around. All is well, until it’s not.

Yesterday the grass was lush and green, but today it’s starting to feel crunchy. Last month, the promise of new beginnings felt exciting, and this month, the “old” looks like a better option. One day, life is incredible and the next day, you’re a widow. One minute, the sun is shining brightly and the next thing you know, a storm comes out of nowhere.

Most of us have weathered some kind of storm in life: the loss of a spouse or maybe a child, cancer, or financial crisis. Or maybe it was the loss of a friendship or a job. Even a sudden geographic relocation. Life is full of storms. Some of them we can see coming. But others seem to hit out of nowhere.

I’ve been doing a deep dive into Psalm and Proverbs. The richness of the text is unprecedented. To know anything about those books and their authors is to know they were intimately acquainted with storms. Lots of storms of various sizes. I also don’t believe it’s a coincidence that those books are right in the middle of the Bible.

When I began focusing on Proverbs 3, I noticed repetition that I hadn’t seen before. Trust, heart, understanding, knowledge, fear, and paths were some of the words I found on repeat.

A few other ladies are joining me on this journey. As we mine the pages and dig into the message that’s embedded, I expect challenges and even some painful truths to be revealed. That’s to be expected when we grow. But I also expect that I’m going to discover how to remain sitting on the porch and enjoying the view. Even if a storm is brewing behind the trees. Because in the words of Megan Fate Marshman, “I’m loved by a God who isn’t worried about a thing”.