For the Rest of my Life

Tree with Wisteria

Brunswick, Georgia

April 2011

Proverbs 13:12 NIV

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

The tree was a palette of colors: burnt orange, fiery red, canary yellow against a royal blue autumn sky.  I ran along a small trickle of a hint of a creek that cut beside the tree at the bottom of the hill from where my elementary school sat.  I was in third grade. 

The school was brand new. The paint, the grout between the tiles in the bathrooms, and the sod around the front of the school all smelled new.

Not only did the school have a sense of newness throughout it, but so did the grounds surrounding it. We had several hills as well as pavement next to the school to play on for recess.

We'd use balls from gym class to play kick ball or kick and catch or dodge ball. We had a tether ball attached to a pole.  We chased each other around the parking lot, played jump rope, or practiced "ching-chang".

One of my favorite games was to see how far I could jump over the little cut in the hillside. The chink in the hill started close together and then expanded as it got closer to the tree.

Water collected at the bottom of the "creek". I loved the thrill of avoiding the water or falling into it.

This fall morning, about 11:00 AM, I paused from my jumps and happened to glance at the tree--a spacious maple in full color change. It was on fire against the backdrop of a clear fall sky.

My heart skipped a beat. A poet couldn't write a poem as beautiful. (Since then, I've never seen a piece of art that was as magnificent.)  

My child's intuition told me this was the most perfect tree and most perfect sky God had ever placed together. I stared at the tree until the image was etched onto my memory.

Oh, God, my heart whispered. Please let me remember this moment for the rest of my life!
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Dear Lord, Thank you for moments like the one you shared with me when I was young.