Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. —11 Corinthians 1:3–4 (NIV)
In our morning paper recently there was an article about an oak tree in South Texas that is one-thousand years old. This tree, as you can imagine, is enormous. I can only think of how many times someone has sat under it to find shelter, either from the sun or the rain or just to enjoy its beauty and shade. Now it is the tree’s turn to be cared for in this way. The arborists in Rockport, Texas, where the tree is located, are giving it some special care to protect it from lightning strikes. This story so reminds us all of our friends and family who share our lives and who give us shelter from our storms in life. It is because of the love that we receive from Jesus that we can now give this love out to others. All of us have been through storms of some sort, and Jesus has protected us all the way, showing us his never-ending care and protection. So then we can do the same for those who need our help. This give and take of caring for each other is exactly what makes the ups and downs of life meaningful and bearable at times. How lovely to know that we will be sheltered by those who love us in the storms of life, and, just as important, we can provide that shelter to others along the way.