When Heather and I bought our house in Urbana, we had a tree in our front yard. Not a huge tree and not a small tree, but an adolescent tree. It was a nice compliment to our front yard. It offered a little shade in the summer and a few leaves on the ground in the fall. It was perfect.
One Iowa spring, we got a wind storm that completely blew the top of the tree clean off the trunk. We were left with a 5 foot, 6 inches around tree stump. I told Heather that I was just going to cut the trunk off because it looked like we had a random fence post in our front yard. She told me not to cut it down, as it may still grow. Foolish woman is what I was thinking but every man knows that a "happy wife leads to a happy life", so I left the tree trunk alone.
As the spring turned to summer, we started to notice that the tree was starting to grow branches once again. It was still alive and trying to grow. Now, I am not an expert of anything to do with trees, but I knew that the tree was not going to grow like it may have prior to the storm damage. It was still really neat to see the tree kind of blossom into a mini-tree. So our tree was back!
This past summer, we were hit with winds of 120mph and sure enough, we lost the top of that tree once again. Heather still insisted that we leave it be, but I was for sure that it was dead this time. I left the tree alone and sure enough, it started to grow again.
At this point, you have to be thinking, "Why are you sharing this story with me?"
This tree has served as a metaphor for our family since the day we moved in and took ownership of it. When we bought the house, things were going really well for our family. I had Diabetes, but everyone was healthy. We were striving as a family. We had good jobs, paying bills on time and really enjoying life. Then we were hit with a "storm" of our own. Micheala has brain surgery due to her Chiari Malformation of the Brain, Heather starts going through Thyroid Cancer, Heather's mom passes away in a fire, my place of work closes the doors and Micheala is diagnosed with Diabetes. Our tree tops were blown off and we thought that we were "dead".
We continued to stay positive and grow, just like that tree. We have become active with Eastern Iowa Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, I have a new job and have reached a career goal of mine, We are eating healthier as a family and are raising our girls in what we believe is a positive atmosphere. We have made many new friends through Advocare and have really got a grip on our purpose in life. We have our tree top once again!
We are well aware that another storm may come along and blow our tree top off and make us feel as if we are finished. When that happens, all we have to do is look out our front window at that tree we have in the front yard. That tree reminds us that we should never lose hop and keep fighting, because good things will come. It reminds us that we have deep roots and that with a little help from our friends and family (sun and the rain), we will grow strong once again.
The world is full of strength, as long as we take the time to not only notice it, but use it. Take the time to appreciate and learn from those things in your life, whether it be good or bad, there is always something to be learned. Remember that the things that happen to you today, will only make you stronger tomorrow.
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