Story of the Trees

Story of the Trees
By Max Lucado

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take Kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest Tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter, " and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree. I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree, I'll take this one," and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feedbox for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay.This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagine. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His Ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

An Extraordinary Dinner

Andrea & Laura

Andrea & Diane

The meal

Tim, Andrea, Andy, Andrea

Jer

Thomas & Jer

Scott, Chris & Laura

Andrea & Oliver

Laura and baby

Berkeley & Jake

Me & my Valentine

Andrea & Tim

Chris, Laura and baby

Scott & Diane

We had a little Valentine dinner last night and my husband made the most amazing dinner ever! It was ridiculously good. He made Steakhouse Steaks topped with roquefort chive sauce and cornmeal-fried onion rings. It was beautifully presented with sauteed mushrooms and asparagus on the side. He dazzled us with his brilliance in the kitchen and our taste buds were astonished with delight when they experienced his magnificent creation! I think almost every single one of us had to unbutton our pants on the drive home :) I have to just take a moment to boast about that husband of mine. He is so talented at everything he does. He is an amazing cook, dad, husband, worker, landscaper, golfer...the list goes on and on. Everything he puts his hand to just seems to turn out and he makes it look so effortless. He is one of the most selfless people I know and he has such a servant's heart. He was the last one to sit down to dinner last night and made sure everyone had been served before changing his shirt to sit down for one of the most delicious meals I have ever had. I know it's sinful and impolite to boast, but how can I not when I have a husband like him? I know I don't deserve him, but I am sure thankful he is mine. I honestly don't know what I would do without him. Anyway, high praises to you Thomas for a job well done!

Oh, and I finally got some preggo pictures of Laura! Isn't she so cute? She wasn't wearing a real cleavage-friendly shirt and I tried convincing her to pull it down "just a little" so you could get a better view of her voluptuousness, however, she was having none of that and I didn't want to push my luck. I can see my powers of persuasion need some improvement. I can't believe she is due 5 wks from Thursday!! Yipeee!!!!!

A Valentine Party

Riah & Berkeley getting ready to decorate!

Cara & Daniel

Galadrial & Eowyn

Oliver watching all of the decorating and eating LOTS of candy!

Trying to figure out how to use crayons

Timmy loves licorice!

Sarah & Leila

Timmy & Andrea

Berkeley's friend Riah had a Valentine's Day party yesterday and all the kids got to decorate cookies and eat lunch together! It was really fun and Berkeley met lots of new friends. It was a beautiful day and many of the little ones like Oliver, Timmy and Eowyn decided to wade in the lake with their shoes and socks on! Oh, to be young and not care about soggy wet socks, shoes and jeans! Berkeley did not want to leave and keeps asking when Riah is having another "birthday party" so they can decorate more cookies together :)

An Update on Laura

Since it has been 3 months since my sister has posted anything regarding her present state, I have decided to take matters into my own hands and give you all a much needed and well deserved update on her pregnancy! She is doing really well. The first few months were pretty unpleasant since she was nauseous the whole time. She never actually threw up, but wished she would just to make that nasty feeling go away. Although, I’m not sure that the nausea actually goes away when a pregnant woman throws up…I’ve heard it lasts all day long. I never had any of that so I’m (thankfully) in the dark on that subject! She is still working full time at Gene Juarez and making the world a more beautiful place one haircut at a time.

She is finally starting to get a cute little pooch and is feeling lots of movement! She is due 7 weeks from this Thursday! The next time I see her I will force her to pose for me so I can get a picture of her little bump. Speaking of bumps…her “cups” runneth over if you know what I mean!!! I’ll try to get a picture of those too. We both agree that while it is fun in the beginning to have such a substantial bosom, over time they become unmanageable and cumbersome and are a bit overrated! I’m not sure how Dolly Parton and Pamela Anderson run around with those things, but they certainly seem to get a kick out of them, so more power to them I suppose!

Laura is going to kill me, but I have a story that is too hilarious not to tell. She was doing some shopping at Fred Meyer the other day, when she suddenly had the urge to sneeze. What she didn’t realize, is that when you’re pregnant, something as mundane as sneezing can turn disastrous if unprepared. After sneezing, she was mortified to discover that she had a little trickle of tinkle running down her leg! She had a warm up suit on (in my mind I’m imaging something similar to that brown velour ensemble that accompanies Jess on all her vacations), and had no way of hiding her transgression! She called me and I reassured her that it happens to EVERY pregnant woman. At least I hope it does, otherwise I’m really embarrassed now too. I think there should be a new motto for pregnant women…you know how firefighters have the catchy phrase STOP, DROP and ROLL for people to prepare themselves in a fire? Well, I think we should start a phrase for women who are carrying the weight of an unborn child on top of their bladders: STOP, SQUEEZE, then SNEEZE! Kind of corny, but hey, it might help prevent these types of unfortunate mishaps in the future for women nationwide!

The other night I received a phone call around 9 pm. When I answered the phone all I heard was “Lisa, I have cankles!” Laura had 11 clients two days in a row (which is quite a load), and during her last haircut all she wanted to do was kick off her shoes, but refrained due to the fear that she wouldn’t be able to get them back on again. Lucky for her, Genie Baby doesn’t allow his employees to wear anything other than pants, so no one will ever be the wiser! At her last check-up, her Dr. encouraged her to sit down for 2 hrs. everyday to reduce the swelling. Unfortunately, Genie Baby also has a policy preventing employees from taking 2 hour lunch breaks. In my opinion, and I think you all will agree with me, Laura is the only person on the planet that can have urine covered cankles and still be completely and utterly adorable!