When I think about beautiful gardens, I always visualise trees, especially those that skyscraper into the blue with towering strength and umbrella wide branches. I'm talking about the big ones.

Trees like these have stood the test of time. Multiple seasons of heart wrenching drought followed by abundant rain and wind toughen the young tree until it becomes a full-fledged powerhouse; its roots penetrating deeply into mother earth. Without this network of roots the tree has a slim chance of survival. The size of the tree is but a mirror of its roots. A solid foundation allows the tree to withstand seasonal adversity. 

Recently, I witnessed the importance of being solidly grounded. A couple of months back, lightening struck a 6 metre tall tree nestled on a side walk opposite the house of friends of ours. The damage was so huge that they decided to cut down the tree to a mere stub in the ground. It was sad to see that all those years of strain and toil had come to nothing. A lofty tree was reduced to a trunk. My heart sank.

Then came the surprise. Another visit to our friends a few months later delivered the unexpected. The tree began to grow twigs and branches covered with thousands of leaves! 'Wow', I thought, 'the  tree came back from the dead! Naturally, it was not nearly a reflection of its old self, but that was not the point. The point was that it started to grow again.

Personal reflection of my observations led to three vital insights. Firstly, life is a balancing act between good and bad. Sometimes we feel that the bad outbalances the good, but the bad is crucial for growth. Trees don't become big and powerful without adversity. Secondly, adversity will kill you if you are not solidly grounded. For me my foundation is Jesus Christ. When I think back at how many times we have had to stand up one more time, each time leaning against God, I can not imagine having to do it again without him by our side. Thirdly, starting over again is not the end of the world. It is an opportunity to begin over more intelligently, as Henry Ford used to say. The journey of life will strike us with lightening many times. Sometimes it will leave us with nothing but our foundation. But this is all we need. 

When you ask the most successful people in the world what they will do when they loose everything they have, they'd tell you that they will just start over again. There is a built-in resilience in their 'being'. They never quit. They perservere through the toughest of times. They are grounded in their faith, a business plan or some hope for the future. They are the tallest trees in the concrete jungle. 

I wonder how many 'trees' will never become big and powerful merely because they have lost the will to grow through adversity or to start over again? What kind of 'tree' are you?

May God give you the strength and tenacity to face each and every seasonal challenge coming your way. May you be planted in the richest soil possible, the same soil that touched the base of the cross 2000 years ago.