By: Elizabeth Haarberg

Shine Where You’re Planted

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link

Fall is here and with the change of season comes crisp air, crunchy leaves and leaves changing colors. There is a tree in the town I live in that is known as the prettiest tree in town this time of year. People regularly stop to take pictures of the tree or pose in front of it.

A question occurred to me when I was in the park driving past the tree; is the tree really all that special or does it look amazing compared to the other trees surrounding it?

I wondered if the tree was in an area where other trees also turn vibrant shades if we would even notice the prettiest tree in town or would it blend in with all the other trees that are also spectacular this time of year. I don’t know because this is where this tree is planted.

Saint Francis De Sales is credited with saying: “True Charity has no limit; for the love of God has been poured into our hearts by His Holy Spirit dwelling in each one of us, calling us into a life of devotion and inviting us to bloom in the garden where He has planted and directed us to radiate the beauty and spread the fragrance of His Providence.”

There are verses that also point toward the idea of wherever you are, grow and flourish there.

“They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.”
Psalm 92:13 English Standard Version

The prettiest tree in town can be a symbol for us to shine where we are planted, not waiting for someone to shine a light on us. Regardless of how we feel, let our light shine for Jesus right where we are.

I’m attaching a poem about trees my daughter wrote when she was in seventh grade that we both love.

Ode to trees 

By: Margaret Haarberg

Oh how you help me breathe

With your green and yellow leaves 

For fueling a fire,
Wood must be acquired 

When changing color,
Your foliage is multicolored 

When you are covered in snow 

you look clothed 

When you are without leaves 

you look in need 

You have never been infamous,
For it is fiddlesticks how you do photosynthesis 

You grow to just keep giving 

Living on until thanksgiving 

When your leaves start withering 

Home to countless birds
Even if you can’t understand their words 

By fulfilling all these needs, 

Trees are truly the bees knees 

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado