I told you yesterday how God had really answered our prayers by providing a tree service that was willing to take out the two trees (not including the three or four that have already come down) that were leaning toward our neighbor’s house and ours.

It was a dangerous situation.

God prompted this man to reschedule some other jobs because he saw the danger, too. You can read yesterday’s post here.

But I just wanted to catch you up on how the day went. They guys were great. I felt anxious as the day went on because the view from the front of our house has changed dramatically.

It was sad to see these majestic trees, as old or older than this house which is about one hundred and twenty years old, get taken down. They were such a part of this property.

Then I remembered this story.

A number of years ago my mom had a tree between her driveway and her neighbors driveway on a section of lawn between the two. The tree was dead and my mom had no qualms about getting rid of it. Her elderly neighbor was not happy about it.

When I went over there after the tree was removed, her neighbor was in her yard.

“Hi, Barbara. How are you doing?” (Her husband had died many years before. She only had one child and he hardly had anything to do with her.)

“I’m very upset because your mom took the tree down”.

“But, Barbara,” I pointed out, “the tree was dead.”

“Yes, I know”, she said sadly. “But at least it was there“.

The minute she said that, I understood.

She wasn’t upset just because a tree was gone. She was upset because this particular was gone. It represented security to her. It represented even more loss. The tree was her shelter and she found comfort seeing that tree every time she pulled in her drive.

I felt very bad for her but it wasn’t till my trees were removed today that I really got it.

Change is hard. It’s especially hard when it’s out of your control, when it feels like decisions are being made for you. I felt a little that way myself yesterday.

It’s these kind of days that throw us for a loop, especially if we’re prone to anxiety or depression.

We certainly don’t have to minimize our own feelings or berate ourselves because we serve a God who is concerned about whatever concerns us.

Tweet

When I tell him losing all these trees makes me sad, He doesn’t chastise me. (Of course, He doesn’t have to. I do a pretty good job myself.)

God has seen me through so much in my life that something like this is really just a hiccup. A painful one, but still a hiccup when compared to the really serious things in life.

Don’t be hard on yourself if something really bothers you that you feel is unimportant. Don’t belittle your concern. Your concerns are your concerns. They don’t have to judged or evaluated. They just have to be acknowledged. And it’s kind of interesting that when you do that, your concerns often just melt away.

My mom’s neighbor died a few years ago. I picture her in heaven surrounded by a lot of sheltering trees.

God bless and have a good one.

The post, “The oddest things can bring us comfort”, appeared first on thegiftofdepression.com