Waiting on the Willow

 

We planted a weeping willow tree a few years back. I always dreamt of having one in my own yard. I’m not sure why, given the way they deceived me as a child. My dad would always tell the story of us going to pick our own switches, and choosing the smallest ones from the willow. Only to find out the thinner the switch, the more it’s bends,  and the more painful it stings. Needless to say, we learned real quick to not ever pick one of its wispy branches again. 

However, every whimsical landscape I’ve feasted my eyes upon, has one….and we needed one too. Our home is somehow shrinking in size, the bigger our kids get. I’ve been researching moving into one with more space for years. A few weeks back it came to me, while trying to make a decision on possibly relocating….I would really like to wait on the willow. I would like to wait and see how beautiful it makes our yard someday. My discontentment of my own space, or lack thereof, immediately ceased. 

Then, I remembered how hard we had prayed and hoped for a home of our own. I remembered renting for fourteen years. Twelve of those in a nine hundred square foot home, and one bathroom for the six of us. I remembered our childhoods of growing up in trailers on and off, and dreaming of a dwelling place built in something other than tin. I remember how huge this place once felt, compared to where we had been before. I remembered the joy it brought us finally obtained our goal.

Today, while thinking of this tree and its significance, this scripture came to mind.

Upon the willows in the midst of it

We hung our harps.

Psalm137:2

The scripture is speaking about the Jews being held captive in Babylon, and remembering their homeland. In hope that someday they would be able to return. The willow is a sign of all that was lost, yet also, of hope.

We’ve experienced tremendous loss, but know God has provided for us, more than we ever could have hoped for. And as I’m sitting here in my porch swing watching and waiting, I will rest in the fact, that with each new leaf and limb, will bring and even greater blessing🍃