Tip of the Day 8/28/12

99 Days of Summer: In honor of the U.S. Tennis Open which started yesterday, why not try a match. Or try playing badmitton with the kids. Or at the very least toss a tennis ball around with the dog. It's still summer, enjoy it!

Word for Today, Trees: I love beautiful old stately trees. The ones that arch over a road, the pines you can hear the wind whistling through, Spanish moss hanging off the beautiful trees in the south. The leaves as they change color in the fall, in full leaf offering shade in the heat of summer, ones covered with snow or the first buds of spring. Trees represent strength and show us vulnerability as one lightening strike can split them and yet they survive. My Mom and I always talked about how we loved the time of the evening when the sun is going down and the trees look black against the sky. There is majesty in that moment. Some people bemoaned the fact we took down a 60 foot tree from our yard, but it had reached the end of it's life and we offered it a dignified way of leaving us. The Bible refers to trees from the very beginning, the Tree of Life, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Tree Jesus died on to bring us eternal life. We are also told heaven is filled with trees. Living in a part of the country filled with trees that bear every kind of fruit must be similar to what heaven will be like. But I can't wait to see the trees that bear a different kind of fruit every month. I hope this Fall as you enjoy the splendor of the colors and fruit the trees around you offer and that you will rejoice in the glory the Creator has blessed us with. "The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."