A Bent Tree

I am amazed at this tree. It is alive and growing even though a fierce storm has bent it and it is growing sideways. It is now parallel with bridge rail. It has made through season after season in which healthier trees have fallen.

This tree reminds me of a few "Heros of Faith" that I know in life. Like this tree a fierce storm has changed their lives forever. Daily they face a bent life of pain and problems. But yet they remain strong, faithful and growing. You wonder often how they survive. Maybe they have a firm root system that helps support them under this pressure.

I like this illustration by Ann Graham Lott--"In North Carolina there are ridges where the trees are so enormous-- more than anywhere else. It is because the winds were the strongest and the storms were the fiercest on the ridge with nothing to shelter the trees from the full blunt of nature's wrath. The trees broke and fell or they became incredibly strong and resilient. God plants you and me in our faith as tender saplings then grows us up into trees of righteousness using the elements of adversity to make us strong. And He leads us to endure victoriously as we choose to praise Him regardless of the storms swirling."