19 Jan And the Tree Was Happy

Recently my two and a half year old son has really gotten into read-aloud time. Whenever we are at home, he runs to the bookshelf, grabs a book and chooses a member of the family to read to him. Given that there are five people who read to him regularly, he gets a lot of read-aloud time.

We are all creatures of habit, and he has proven no different. He has his favorite book, “Poppleton,” which we all have memorized (even my five year old daughter can recite it to him). Once it fell apart from use we all sighed with relief, but I couldn’t help myself and immediately ordered him “Poppleton in Winter.” He squealed with delight when it arrived in the mail and now we are reading it multiple times a day.

Another of his favorites lately is “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. This book is so special. My eyes may get a little wet with tears every time I read it to him (and I read it to him a lot!) because the story is so simple and yet so moving.

In the story, a little boy becomes friends with a tree. They play together and he eats her apples and swings from her branches. As the story progresses through each stage of the boy’s life, we see his interactions with the tree change. As a boy, he simply enjoyed the tree’s company and that was enough. As a man, his desires changed and he came to the tree to give him something he wanted. At each request, the tree gave the boy something of herself that would allow the boy to fulfill his dreams.

When the tree saw that the boy was happy and his needs were met, the tree was happy. The tree loved the boy and so she delighted to give all that she had to the boy, regardless of how it changed her. By the end of the story, the tree is nothing more than a stump (she has given all that she has to the boy) and yet the stump is exactly what the boy needs as an old man – a place to sit and rest quietly.

The Gift of Giving

The Giving Tree is a beautiful picture of unselfish love and delightful giving. She longs to demonstrate her love for the boy, which cannot be done without the giving of herself. As Victor Hugo said, “You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.”

What does this mean for us as mothers? Last week, I faced a trial called “Family Stomach Flu 1.0.” Now, there have been multiple times that one of our children has contracted a stomach bug over the last decade. My husband and I have even gotten it a few times since having kids. But last week was a first for our home: FIVE out of six members of our family were hit with this wretched illness.

As I bent low to clean up my kids messes, bathe them, wash countless loads of laundry and bleach our entire home from top to bottom, I kept thinking of one little phrase in Scripture that says a lot about our Savior: “he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (John 13:5).

Jesus knew who he was, where he was from, and where he was going. Because he knew He was greatly loved by His Father, he was empowered by that love to serve his disciples and no task was too humble or dirty for him to take on – not even feet washing.

Mothering and raising little children is often very humbling, very (literally) dirty and messy work.We are motivated to give of ourselves to our children even in these exhausting and wearing moments of motherhood because we love them.

This is a love that doesn’t originate in us, but in God, who is the ultimate example of sacrificial love: “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

This is a prayer that I prayed (in essence) last week when I was sick and exhausted and didn’t think I had anything left to give, but out of necessity had to keep giving – (can any other moms relate??):

“Heavenly Father, I am weak and weary and I need your help and strength to serve my family right now. Thank you that you love me so much that you gave your only Son for me. I pray that your sacrificial love would fill me and motivate me to care for my family today, even in the hardest moments.  Thank you that your grace is sufficient for me and your power is made perfect in my weakness. Thank you that you are always with me and long to fill me with joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances.“

Perhaps some of you are feeling today the way that I was last week. I’m praying for you today that you will be encouraged and built up in love. And as you give and keep giving, that you will find joy just like the Giving Tree in my son’s book….”And the tree was happy.”