An image of discipleship

I was thankful today for the real life experience of the quote Mrs C read me recently from a book she is reading:

'As a little girl, I remember an afternoon I spent playing in the front yard while my Dad was busy picking up sticks and weeding  At one point, he stopped his usual work and went into the garage. He came back with some tools and began doing something I'd never seen him do before. There was a young thin tree that was bent over, suffering from the damaging effects of a storm that had recently blown through. (And, if I remember correctly, it was also suffering from the effects of neighborhood children- myself included- who liked to bounce on its bent-over limb for fun.) He took a rope and tethered the young tree to the much older tree- one that was sturdy and strong standing straight. When I asked him why he was tying the two trees together, he explained that the older tree could offer support and strength to prevent the younger tree from growing askew. The older tree had withstood years of winds and storms. Just by standing beside the younger tree, it offered stability'

Growing together, Melissa Kruger