Dead Trees and Life

We had a very dead tree come LOUDLY crashing down in our woods this past week.  It was a ways down in the woods by our creek, so it really did not damage much…….thus it was quite fascinating to look at.  And let me tell you,  I don’t even know how this tree remained standing as long as it did……it was totally hollow on the inside!!!

It had NOTHING on the inside!  Nothing……. hollow, empty, dead!

How did this emptiness occur?  I also noticed the tree had NO root structure, no foundation, nothing holding it to hill on which it stood.

As I stood staring into the emptiness of this tree, it occurred to me, our life right now does NOT resemble this dead tree in anyway!

Some tough and unexpected challenges have come our way…..but we are not empty on the inside!  I see now the fruit of the foundation Curt and I built for our kids so many years ago!  We raised them clinging hard to the foundation of the word of God and a life in Christ.

Luke 6:47-49

I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice.

48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

We instilled in Tyler and Madi roots that dig into the word of God……I can assure you my kids are far from perfect! 🙂  But they are also not falling apart, sure their foundations crumble and crack, as do mine and Curt’s…..but we continue to stand strong.  We are not empty and hollow, we are vibrant and strong.

I am so thankful for the foundation we have in Christ, we may falter, but we will not fall!!!

I am also so thankful for the foundation of GREAT friends we have.  Never in my life have I seen and experienced the kindness, care and coveted prayers of so many dear friends!  And let me tell you, it really helps to sustain us.   I was thinking the other day how after close to 5 months of knowing Curt has Early Onset Alzheimer’s  this is starting to feel “normal.”  We are daily reminded of the evils of the wretched disease.  It presents in such unusual ways.

• Curt will ask numerous times how to do something on the computer, he may have asked the same thing just day before, or hours before.  But he keeps pressing on to accomplish his task at hand and usually does!

• Curt has great trouble filling out forms, but he keeps pressing on with “white out” being his new best friend

• Curt still loves to go out and throw baseball with Tyler and now Lax with Madi, and he’s still got it in the old athletic department!

• He often misplaces things, but he keeps pressing on and will eventually find it!

• I once asked him what he had for lunch when he went out with a friend….he had NO idea…..about 15 min later, it comes up easily in conversation what he had.

I can’t even begin to explain all the odd things we see during the day……..yet, Curt can keeps pressing on with life, and so do we.  We can learn a lot from a man with Alzheimer’s!!!

It’s always seem so unreal in many regards that this is our new normal, but I can assure you we could not be walking this path with out our friends and that firm foundation!

Please keep praying for us as spring sports  (baseball for Tyler and Lax for Madi) officially begin next week, and life will get much busier!  I am a bit worried how I will stay on top of EVERYTHING!!!

Also, we have an appointment in a week with the Social Security office, it is to get the ball rolling in applying for social security disability….I have no idea how that will go!!!