From A Second Grader's Journal

While driving in the car one evening this week, Brenna was reading parts of her school journal to me. During this past school year, the teacher would write a topic or question on the board every day for the students to journal about. They have been adding to it all year and were able to bring them home at the end of the school year. I would like to share with you Brenna’s entry from September 9, 2009. I wish you could actually see it in her second grade style penmanship; it makes it all the more sweet.

September 9, 2009

Would you rather be a tree or a flower? Why?

I would want to be a tree because a tree is stroger. (her spelling!)

When she was reading this to me in the car, she read “Would you rather be a tree or a flower?” Before she could finish reading the rest of the entry, I interrupted her, “which one did you pick?” I was surprised at her answer. Since she is very much a girl, I expected her to say a flower because she thinks they are so pretty. Even dandelions and those little white flowers that bloom in clover, no flower is a weed to her! In the summer there’s always a collection lying on the kitchen counter courtesy of her and her sister, McKayla.

Although her answer wasn’t what I first expected, it made me proud when she gave her reasoning behind it.

Because a tree is stronger.

Flowers are beautiful, they truly are. I love them. (hint to Todd if he’s reading this!) They can brighten your day, they smell wonderful, they light up a room- but flowers fade. They are only pretty for a short while and then they wilt, they whither, and then the petals lose their color and they fall off and dry up. They’re fragile in a storm and get blown right off the vine. A tree is not so fleeting. Many live for hundreds of years. They are stable. They are stronger, withstanding so much more. Everyone may be drawn to the beauty of a bloom, but when summer heats up, they seek relief under the shade of a tree.

       Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. 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: 7-8

I don’t know about you, but I think Brenna was on to something here. I would much rather be a tree, strong and yielding fruit for the long haul, than a flower only pretty for a season. If I grow my roots near His living water, my leaves will be green and lush, offering comfort or shade to those around me who have been exposed to the heat of this world. I won’t have to fear when life heats things up around me or when I am faced with a drought. His streams of living water will be what I need to sustain me through it all.

God, your creation and how You use them to explain things to us in Your word is so alive to me. I can see your handprints all around me. I am so thankful that You are Sovereign, yet gentle enough to teach me something profound through something as simple as my child’s school journal. Her answer was only one sentence, yet You used it to speak volumes to me. Father plant me by your water, draw my roots closer to drink from your stream. Make me beautiful from within so that I may bear fruit for Your glory, no matter what season of life I am in.

Amy Dotson, RPDOTK (Royal Princess Daughter Of The King)