Sequoia

My husband (who took that amazing picture) came home a few weeks ago from a weekend trip hiking all over Sequoia National Park. He bubbled with excitement, spouting off amazing facts about the trees:

Their bark can grow up to three feet thick.

That bark is flame resistant.

Forest fires help open the pine cones to release seeds that grow from ash and burnt, bare soil.

Isn’t that how God has designed us too? Don’t we grow in the midst of heat and under pressure, through experiences that draw us nearer to Him, seeking deeper relationship with Him as we struggle here? Doesn’t our skin thicken over time, making us weather hurts and heat better than before? Don’t beautiful things bloom from the destructive periods in our lives if we allow God to have His way?

It’s a verb, sequoia. You can sequoia.

May your bark be thick enough to protect you, may the fires of your life be hot enough to grow you, and may you bloom where you’re planted, mighty and strong.