Acorns & Oaks

Yes, I've been out of the blogosphere for awhile...but it's not because I haven't thought about it! Excuses, excuses, I know...

I've actually found myself heading up the women's ministry team at church and we are in the final stages of launching a blog for our women's ministry - www.springsstillwaters.wordpress.com. Notice I said we are in the final stages...plan is to launch next week, but you know how plans go...check it out when you get a chance - God really stirred our hearts and gave us a vision for a place where the women of the Church can be real, not cookie-cutter. Where it is ok to be in process instead of having it all together. Where we can go beyond just being a "polite" church body into being an authentic church body.

So on to my sweet A&W moment. Yesterday, I was home from work (summer schedule has me off every Friday, woo hoo!)...had big plans to paint A's room...we are in the middle of a room re-do for her 9th birthday later this month. BUT, decided I needed a nap before I tackled that project.

The kids and I had visited the library a few weeks ago and picked up a few books that have just sat...so I picked one up and said "Let's read this one together..." So they climbed up into my bed and away we read. It's a Max Lucado children's book - "The Oak Inside the Acorn". I had never seen it before so thought we'd check it out. Little did I know it would turn out to be a very unforgettable moment...

So the book is all about this acorn who, as he grows, has to leave his momma oak tree and go out on his own and become this giant oak, and he does and he holds swings and tree houses and all this good stuff...great story. So sweet...but when we finished reading the story, I looked at my kids. W is crying, silent tears running down his face, his giant gorgeous eyes all red. I'm serious, folks. These are real, my heart hurts tears....

"W! What's wrong?", I asked.

"Momma, that story is so sad!!! It made me cry."

"What part made you cry, baby?"

"The baby acorn had to leave his momma!!! That is so scary!"

In the book, the momma oak tree tells baby acorn over and over again "There is a giant oak inside of you. Just be the tree God made you to be." So I tell W - yes, he had to leave his momma, but that's what God made him to do, to become the giant tree he was supposed to...this was not helping W's hurting heart at all...

He says "I don't want to ever leave you, momma."

"W, you will have to someday in order to become the great man of God that I know God has created you to be...but it's not today. It's not next week. You have a long time until you have to leave..."

A is listening intently to all of this, very concerned about her little brother...hugging him, loving on him. So I seize the opportunity to lighten the mood...

"Besides, A will have to leave before you do...and that means we'll have 2 whole years just us while she's out becoming the tree she is supposed to be!"

That got a smile...what he didn't know is he had totally made my heart smile.

Man, how I love that boy...the boy who will one day be a man who will have to leave me because there is a giant oak inside of him and he needs to become the tree God made him to be.