Fruitfulness in old age...

About 15-20 years ago, my father had to take down a beautiful black walnut tree because it had been irreparably damaged by lightning. Over the next few months he would tend to the task of removing the stump. It was gone. He had used fire and axe to remove it....then some time later, a shoot rose out of the ground. I was able to tend to it, tie it straight and support it.

Now, 20 years later there is a beautiful walnut tree, one foot in diameter, 35-40 feet high, that bears fruit. Reminds me of Romans when we read that God "gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist." Beautiful things to remind me of my new life.

Isaiah 11

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.