{My Wedding} Part 5: Trees & Love


 
The following is a letter we wrote to our guests and had placed on the reception tables...

“I look over at you, and your tree is almost as big as mine.” he says smiling. We both laugh. There are no trees around us. We’re in a restaurant, talking not of that which is made up of bark and leaves and branches, but something that, like a tree, grows over time, pushing its roots deep into the unknown, winding, twisting, growing around and through that which is hard.




A tree, in this embracing of dirt, this reaching into a paradox of fallow and tender earth, somehow finds its footing, its strength to stand far above the many tendrils that have labored for its life, for its ability not simply to exist, but to thrive from the water it has found below.




Somewhere along the way we came to liken our love for each other as a tree. 



As a sapling is easily smothered or blown away, so our interest in one another at the beginning could have been turned away if not tended. But, over time, those things which used to threaten a sapling, will emphasize its beauty.  


 
If not planted carelessly, if tended to, and if given time, it will grow tall and become unmoveable. In the haven of earth below, in that which others will not even see, the roots will be secure. 



Wind will beat against it above, clouds will billow dark and haunting, rain may tear from heaven and rip the very skies that once boasted sun. Thunder will roll down to the earth and shake its dwelling place, but the lightning, when it flashes…will reveal that tree to be standing…standing tall, standing strong, standing resolute. 




The sun will rise again and the grown up sapling will now provide shade for the rest that are growing. It will house life in its very own branches, and display beauty.






Our love has grown from the roots; from a sapling, to a sturdy, confident tree. We have planted and tended purposefully to the beginning of our relationship, but we still have much room to grow.





Thank you to those who have been there to watch it happen,  and to all for joining us in the celebration of our marriage. May your roots reach deep into the living water, and your knowledge of the Lord pierce new heights. May you continually go to Him as the source of true fulfillment and may your love for one another be strong and unwavering.



Growing in Him,

Ben and Emily

Thanks again to John Allen Photography for his beautiful work.

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