For three years our humble home has been suffering some terrible foundation problems. It has been such a helpless feeling watching our beloved home crack and move these past few years. We have consulted 2 structural engineers, spent thousands upon thousands of dollars for foundation work that travels 3/4ths the length of the house and have heard the dreaded prognosis: "We have not hit bedrock!"
For all you unfamiliar with fundamental foundational terminology, this is bad news for any cornerstone. You can put all the piers you want in the ground, but if you do not hit something solid, the ground will shift, the piers will move, and the house will too. I hear the growing pains at night... yet I love our home.
The problem resolved to no ending... a 150 year old pecan.
I have a tree thing. I love this tremendous tree to the side of our home.
Over the past 10 years we have seen it house an owl, various red winged hawks, squirrels, a possum and Texas pecans. It is a great tree, yet its roots are under our house and when it grows, our house moves... What a tremendous analogy for life...
Remember this church song from when you were a kid?
The wise man built his house upon the rock . . . The wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock...
And the rain came tumbling down
Oh, the rain came down, And the floods came up . . .(repeat)
And the wise man’s house stood firm.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand . . .
And the rain came tumbling down.
Oh, the rain came down, And the floods came up . . .
And the foolish man’s house went “splat!”
What I have learned from this little ditty is that the wise and foolish man will both have the rain coming down.- Trying to wash it away. They both will experience a shift in their home, the growing pains of life.
With this economy, the wise and foolish will face economic issues. In regard to sickness, the wise and the foolish will face sickness. What is the difference.- The third stanza...
So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ . . .
And the blessings will come down
Oh, the blessings come down, As your prayers go up . . .
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.
This song comes close to home literally. All shall have adversity! ALL, holy and unholy, rich and poor, healthy and sick. No one is immune to problems. Yes, we live in a land of wealth, of Facebook type postings, that front all is well... yet underlying the positive postings, all have some sort of issues brewing.
For the past 3 years we have been dealing with foundation issues. From the outside no one would know the walls have crack marks. That the tree is the underlying problem.
See, I love trees. I have a tree thing. There is something magical about trees.
Our wedding had reference to a tree. To signify the planting of a tree, to grow roots, to build a family. A poem that symbolized new life to Mike and I went like this:
Ah! Up then from the ground sprang I
And hailed the earth with such a cry
As is not heard save from a man
Who has been dead, and lives again.
About the trees my arms I wound;
Like one gone mad I hugged the ground;
I raised my quivering arms on high;
I laughed and laughed into the sky...
We just celebrated another anniversary...16 years together,and how blessed among women I am to have him in my life....And though we have had our share of adversity, and the complexity of life will always be, though financial, mental, physical or other.... one deep truth will remain. This...
"For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit..." Jeremiah 17:8
Thank you God for the Tree of Life....that in YOU our roots are planted firm, that you are our bedrock and our cornerstone, that will not allow us to move, with no fear of what comes our way! Our hope is in YOU.
