He is like a tree . . .

"Blessed is the man . . . He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." - Psalm 1:1a, 3

I grew up in small town Illinois (Carlyle), also know as the "City of Trees." My hometown is full of trees. Huge, beautiful, well-groomed trees of every kind. As a child we planted trees, climbed them, fell out of them, and even cut them down.

Each Christmas we would pile in the car and drive to great-grandma's house in the country where we would cut down the Christmas tree from a stand of firs that lined the fence row. These weren't just any trees. These were trees that my father had planted as a child. There was something special about those Christmas trees.

Very soon we will cut down more than twenty trees as we make room for the new building. It will be a sad day to see so many trees go. As with most trees, there are stories behind the planting of many of them. Pastor Oesch and Gerald Tackett both have stories to share about many of the trees on campus.

The Lord calls us to be good stewards of His creation. So while trees will be cut to make room for needed space we will continue to care for those that remain as well as make plans for adding additional trees and other landscape to our improved facilities. The City of Houston has mandated that several trees (roughly twenty) will need to be newly planted on the property as part of a comprehensive landscape plan and we hope to do much of this landscaping with our own sweat and blood. When the time comes I hope that many will join us as we plant new trees and create new memories. I certainly plan to have my boys out digging in the dirt along with dad.