Good morning…
“Was that you walking down the street with a red tree last Friday?” asked a curious neighbor.
“Yes. That was me,” I replied. “The branches were cut from a large tree near the horse farm, and they were way too beautiful to be eaten by the wood chipper. So I brought them home.”
I was walking with my dear friend Martha Tate, and she took pictures of me walking home with my top heavy tree.
I had no idea what I would actually do with the beautiful red-leaf branches, but the Spirit of God did.
Martha had been working diligently on a talk for her Sunday school class at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. She was teaching a lesson on a book she loves, Theo of Golden by Alan Levi, and she prepared with her whole heart and her whole soul. On Sunday morning, our other dear friend and I planned to support Martha by attending her class.
Spurred by the Spirit early that Sabbath morning, the red leaves naturally blended with other cuttings from our yard (and a hawk feather I had found) to create a wreathe of gratitude for Martha, a symbol of celebration for all of the time she had invested preparing her talk with God.
As a special surprise to all of us, the wreathe became the backdrop for the filming of Martha’s Sunday school lesson. We named the wreathe “Once a Tree,” since just a few days ago it had been a tree happily walking with an eccentric lady down Woodland Brook Drive.
The joyful surprise of the Lord comes in many creative forms!
The stories about the way you are living in obedience to God have traveled to all the churches. So celebrate your faithfulness to God that is being displayed in your lives—seek wisdom about the good life, and remain innocent when it comes to evil (Romans 16:19, VOICE).
…Sue…
P.S. I invite you to celebrate the faithfulness to God which is being displayed in Martha’s life by enjoying her wise, wonderful talk on Theo of Golden.
