My Beautifully Inadequate Grapefruit Tree

So, I have this "sort of" grapefruit tree in my room; I say "sort of" because it doesn't fit the normal requirements of what one would consider a tree. It's only about two feet tall, doesn't have a lot of leaves, and has never produced anything remotely close to a grapefruit. I still affectionately call it my grapefruit tree. I've had it for quite a few years now, and I would certainly say I am quite attached to it.

It all started when I was in 5th grade and accompanied my mom to the hospital on "take your daughter to work day;" I must have been about 11 years old. My mom had a grapefruit for lunch, and two of the seeds in the grapefruit she brought to eat had sprouts on them. So, I being the type of kid who was always trying to grow plants, save rocks, catch bugs, and press flowers decided to keep the starts and try to grow them.

Alas, one of them did not survive despite my best efforts of care; the other however did pull through. So, even though it may not be the most glorious example of a tree, I think it has grown quite nicely from the little seed my mom almost threw out. I've taken this little tree with me wherever I have lived, and I can't quite explain the affection I have for it. Perhaps it simply connects me to a simpler, purer period of my life.

It's almost like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree; there's not much to it. Periods of growth come and go, sometimes it won't grow a bit for months. A couple of times nearly all of the leaves fell off dead; another time I cut off the top of it to try and get it to branch out instead of growing straight up. I thought for sure I'd killed it; but sure enough, one day the little sprouts began to push out of the bark. Anytime it starts to have new sprouts of baby leaves, my heart rejoices!

This Tuesday was one such day, and the symbolism this little tree testifies to is absolutely amazing; it has brought me to tears :) Just this weekend I was worried because several of its leaves had shriveled up and fallen off; I was so afraid that it was dying! But no, only days later there were beautiful, new bright green little baby starts pushing out through the branches. One little sprout is coming straight out of the trunk through the bark!

I don't think I need to explain what this specifically means to me; I'm sure that it would be different for each person. In that moment, God spoke straight into my heart saying, "Look child, and listen; yes, some of the leaves had to die and fall away. That's not the end! Wait and in time new growth will come. Four or five leaves may have fallen, but twice as many new sprouts have taken their place! I needed to get rid of some old to put our energy in the new. I will not waste energy on that which is already dying."

Isn't it beautiful how God can speak to us in the simplest of experiences if we will just pay attention? It worries me how many opportunities I may have missed because I was too distracted...

At this moment I fear this little blurb about me and my homely little tree is a bit foolish, but I guess I would prefer to err towards what people see as foolish rather than the alternative....after all, aren't we all beautifully inadequate?