When the Roots Go Deep

July 12, 1975.

The day my life changed in so many ways.

The day I heard the still, small voice of God whisper "come".

The day I knelt at that tabernacle alter, under those pines,  and gave my heart to Jesus.

The day I was "born again", "Saved", became a Christ follower.

Oh yes, there were a couple of years I went off the path.  I didn't follow Christ at all after college for a good 2 years.  Did my own thing, went through the motions on Sundays.  

But those roots go deep.

I was raised in a Free Methodist church and one of the people whom I always looked up to recently passed over into Glory.  She was the wife of my childhood pastor who also prayed with me at Pine Grove Camp when I was 15 in 1975. She taught me a lot about being a wife and mother. She modeled for us how to be a Christian woman with our actions.  On Friday I had the privilege of being at her graveside service and as I looked around at her 5 daughters whom I consider friends and who have meant so much to our family over the years, I realized why I love pine trees so much.  (don't ya love when God uses even a funeral service to show you something?) White pines have deep roots.  Pine Grove Camp was nestled in the pines where Jean (her youngest daughter) and I pitched our tent every summer for 10 days of "church camp".  Pines are evergreen and at Christmas I used to tell my daughters we use an evergreen to represent the unending love of God.  His love endures.  Pines are always green and they represent, to me, the everlasting life Jesus gave us.  The scent of pines is one of my very favorite scents and it makes sense:  it was under the pines that I first met Jesus as a Real Person....as a Friend...not just some faraway God that my parents told me to obey.  When we put our faith in Jesus, we can be firmly planted in that love, that grace, that mercy.

45 years today of being a Christ follower.  

It's those roots that were firmly planted in me as a child and teenager that pulled on my heartstrings and caused me to turn my life around for good in the late 1980s and when I saw the need to make Jesus my Lord not just my Savior.

Those roots were watered by many different people over the years.  From my childhood pastor, to my teenage youth group leaders, to my  college professors, to my young adult pastor, to my spiritual mentors and husband and now to my  current pastor. I've had the privilege of being in several different churches and have found the one that we call home. But those things are just icing on the cake.

The firm foundation that was set in Christ for me was due to the teachings from childhood.  Roots were established and hopefully good fruit is coming out after all these years. 

The Christian walk isn't easy and it hasn't always been triumphal.  There are trials......yet we can have that inner joy the Scriptures talk about, when we keep our feet  firmly planted on that solid ground.

It's the grace of God that I've made it this far in my spiritual journey.

One of my youth group leaders told me to memorize Proverbs  3:5-6 so I did.  And it's been my life verse ever since 1975 on that hot July evening when I walked down to the tune of this song:

Looking back to 45 years ago, I had no idea at age 15 that I would be married to a computer software guy, have two amazing daughters and be a special education preschool teacher.  It wasn't in my plans!

But God....with His amazing grace.....brought me time and again to my life verse and it's a promise that has proven to be true:

He will direct our paths....when we place all of our trust in Him

He has directed mine in ways I never imagined.

But my roots go deep and they keep me firmly planted in Him.