I’m glad I took a picture of my favorite Redbud tree in full bloom last spring! We lost over half of it this past week in an ice storm. Redbuds are amazingly resilient, however and it will no doubt recover. Already, the ice has fallen off and the remaining branches are reaching up to the sky again. 

I hope that I am as flexible with what life brings to me. If I lose half of myself, could I spring back and once again lift my arms towards heaven? 

I like to think that my faith is strong enough to endure whatever comes my way. But flexibility and strength do not just happen. They are developed, as we grow and age, like muscles and strong bones. 

May our delight be in the law of the Lord, on which we meditate day and night; may we be as a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. May we prosper in all things.  – Taken from Psalm 1:3 (paraphrased).