Dead Tree

We have a tree in our back yard. It is dead. Or, at least, we thought it was dead. It was ugly. It had no leaves. Just dead, ugly branches that seemed to always crack and break off. We thought we'd eventually cut it down and put it- and us- out of our misery. But, we never did.

A few mornings ago one of the kids came running in to our room. He was screaming, "The tree! The dead tree! It's not dead! Look at it! Look at it!" I begrudgingly hauled myself out of bed and, to my surprise, this is what I saw at the top of the "dead" branches:

Beautiful blossoms. We never even saw a green leaf on the tree. We never noticed any buds. But, then all of a sudden we have hundreds of huge, white flowers. Perhaps it was the original ugliness that made it's blossoms so strikingly beautiful.

What a wonderful, tangible lesson the Lord provided us in observing our dead tree: He makes all things new. He turns the ugly into the beautiful.

And, sometimes, it's the ugliness that helps us appreciate and cherish the beauty all the more.