Lean on me

 

"Lean on me," said the little tree to the big tree.

Sorry if I just made a song start playing on repeat in your brain. That said, it's a cool song made popular by Bill Withers in 1972.

"Lean on me
when you're not strong
and I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won;t be long
Till I'm gonna need somebody to carry on..."

We all love this notion of leaning on each other; on creating a community where it's all for one and one for all. But do we?

Sure, it takes humility to be the one who leans. The one who is feeling weak and incapable. The one who is fearful of hitting the ground with a resounding thud. The one who needs help.

But I think it may take just as much humility and a sense of courage to be the lean-to. For some reason, we think we will not be strong enough to support another's heavy burden. We won't know what to say and when to say it. We doubt our ability to empathize and understand. Plus, it takes time and effort, of which we find a scarcity in our own lives. So we don't even try. It's easier that way.

But take a lesson from that skinny little tree whose diameter pales in comparison to the big guy. Who knew that the little tree was enough to provide ample and necessary support?

Take a chance. Make like the little tree.

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

Barnyard Boogey

It might look like mayhem but this little challenge was not without purpose. I call it the Barnyard Boogey. Each athlete was assigned one of 4 animals. They were permitted to make only the sounds of the dog, cat, cow, or duck to which they were assigned. The task? Find all your fellow species and link arms.

While this process is highly entertaining for those who watch, it is fairly difficult for all the animal wanna-bes. So how do they accomplish the task?

Success depended of making the choice to filter out and ignore all the unnecessary noise that confuses and distracts. Instead, they had to be selective in what and who they responded to. The barkers had to be drawn to those who barked. The ducks had to be quacking the same tune. And the cats and cows had to discern a meow from a moo.

Are we not bombarded with a lot of worthless noise on a daily basis? Just like the college athletes in this little game, if we want to be effective we must learn to be extremely careful in who and what we give our attention to. Sometimes it is the outside voices that confuse. Other times it is the little voice in our own head that lies to us and talks smack.

Be leery of extraneous noise. Focus in on what edifies.

Feel free to contact me if I can serve your group with fun, interactive activities to reinforce taught principles.

Don't be scared to try

 Don't be scared to try.

I am a rural-kind of girl. There has always been a ton of farm equipment on our property but until yesterday, I had not climbed aboard to wrangle the beast into obedience.

But since necessity is the mother of invention, yesterday was the day to add a new skill. I needed mulch moved from the mulch pile to my flower beds. My husband was kind enough to teach me to operate the tractor, offering very valuable pointers about using all the controls. With his guidance and the bush hog following behind, it was mission accomplished.

Though intimidating at first, I think I have the basics down. I am looking forward to becoming more capable and skilled in the future.

Go ahead. Try something new.

Grow where you are planted

Grow where you are planted.

Sometimes we find ourselves in a very unfortunate situation. Take the tree in the picture. Broken. Dead and decaying. Falling apart, Becoming a whopping big pile of mulch. But then something miraculous happens.

Growth in all the unexpected places. Turns out, the difficult circumstance actually created the perfect, nutrition-rich environment for new development. Look closely. Perhaps that little sliver of green with its few first leaves is spurred on by the hope shown in the two young trees rising up from the stump. "If they could do it, maybe I can too."

It's never hopeless. Reach deep. Grow where you are planted.