from the forest comes life.

The trees won't leave me alone.

As of late, trees surround me--maybe not literally, as I live in a concrete jungle, but figuratively. In metaphors, stories, conversations--they just keep coming up.

My mom has been working at a Christmas tree lot for the past few weeks. Last week she wrote about how people are searching for the perfect Christmas tree--the tree with the perfect shape and proportion that will fit nicely into the corner of their living room for the holidays. These trees, as my mom describes, are groomed for perfection--watched carefully from the time they are young, nipped, pruned, shaped, sawed, etc. so that one day, a family will choose it for their home. True trees don't grow like that. When she was on her 5-week road trip across the United States this past Fall, my mom describes her experience with trees:

"While driving through Oregon and Washington State this past October, the original home of these Noble, Douglas, Frazer and Grand Firs, I marveled at these trees in the wild. I wanted nothing more than to be embraced by the forest. I had visions of lying on my back in a bed of needles, breathing in the dark, deep green of the forest. It never occurred to me to judge the individual trees and their acceptability. They were all, each and every one, part of the forest."

I realized, after reading this, that a lot of why I'm moving to the woods of North Carolina, is to be a part of the forest. Trees represent strength and life and community. A tree that stands alone bears only fruit, but a tree among other trees is part of a forest--where life is created, rejuvenated, protected, and celebrated; where older trees tower above and grow more beautiful and strong with age and where younger trees are nurtured, providing life and shelter for other creatures as they grow. This is what this camp represents to me--a hope for a world that mimics the forest.

My friend, Katy, has recently gotten engaged. I've had the honor of watching her grow and heal over the past two years as God blessed me with her friendship within a week of my moving to Dallas. When searching for a Christmas present for her, I came across a necklace with a "Tree of Life" charm. Unable to put words to how much meaning this held for her and for me, I just handed her the necklace this week over lunch as we shopped for bridesmaid dresses. When she saw it, she understood immediately. She is beginning a new life that will bear much fruit with her husband-to-be. They are perfect for one another, and as I am in the woods, I want her to see the tree and know that I'm with her always as her life branches off into a beautiful new direction. Yesterday, Katy came over and gave me the same necklace.

Today, my aunt passed away. Linda has been fighting breast cancer for 9 years, and my Uncle Jay has been next to her the entire way, fighting just as hard. Today she left us after a courageous fight--a fight that millions of women have fought, in my opinion, not for themselves, but for those of us who love them so dearly. Linda fought this cancer for Jay, for her sisters, for those of us who believed she could, and she fought well. She's a champ and will always be one of the strongest women I ever knew.

I'm not someone who thinks she has all the answers. I don't really know about Heaven and what it's like, but I hope, for Linda's sake that it's a lot like what my mom described. I hope Linda is being embraced by the forest. That she is finally at rest, lying on her back in a bed of needles, breathing in the dark, deep green forest, breathing in peace. I hope she is now a part of the forest.

"She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed." Proverbs 3:18