God’s creation can teach us many lessons. I have always enjoyed reading the teachings that Jesus left us from parables; real life experiences to teach real life lessons. I had a revelation from a spring storm that came through our town.

We went to bed one night and woke up to a disaster all over the town. You would have never seen it coming; unless you were paying close attention. We had a mild winter here in Pueblo, Colorado. What it brought was an early spring; plants and trees stretched out their leaves and flowers earlier than usual. A winter storm came bring heavy, wet snow. With the tree limbs already filled out with leaves, the snow added extra weight on them. Even the power lines were sagging and because of this many homes were without power from the damage for hours; 24 hours for some.

The snow on top of these leaves and branches added so much weight that it caused beautiful trees to release that pressure by snapping at the trunk. Some trees were able to be saved and others had to be completely cut down. What was the difference between these trees? Why did some “walk away” unaffected? Why did some have to be cut down? Why did some lose many branches and others just a few?

People can be the same way. We can carry around with us so much weight that something as “small” as a snow flake when added up to feel like a snow storm can cause that person to break. Everyone is different. Some have strong personalities that can handle more weight; some are more tender. Some have grown up with good communication skills and can shake off that pressure by talking through things; others are more timid. There are those who hold things in and it seems like the smallest of things can set them “off”. But when you look closely at “the branch” and see the weight that is already there from the “leaves”; “snow” can be the breaking point.

Many wives start out sharing very kindly how their spirit is hurting. If they are left with that hurting spirit from not being cared for over the years, pressure builds up. Some wives can be “trimmed” when a husband steps up even after years of insensitivity and begin to thrive. Others break off that “branch” and you can see where life has taken a toll on them. Then there are those that eventually have to be “cut down”; who just cannot take anymore and walk away either physically or emotionally.

I pray that husbands become aware of the “trunk of the tree” or the spirit of their wife if you will. That they become experts on caring for the “branches” and begin to prune out the things that are weighing their wives down. Also, that they would pay attention to their actions aka the weather (a snow storm) and protect their wives by caring for their spirit; even in the midst of the storm. All over our town, on every street, there were trees and tree branches that had fallen.  People were walking around talking of how it looked like a hurricane hit. The city opened up a place at a nearby park for people to dispose of the limbs. When you drive by the park, it is amazing to see the rows and rows and rows of tree branches lined up.