Happy Easter!

I thought I would share with you...one of my favorite trees. I have loved this tree even as a small child, because it was my climbing tree. The tree where I found refuge, where I would go to think, where I would go to wonder, where I would go to pass the time on any given day, alone, or with my pal Cotton(my dog)...and yes, I would actually carry the poor dog up in the tree with me. Before my teenage years, my tree died and had to be cut down it was heartbreaking. Later in life I found this legend and it has always made me smile. My favorite tree as a symbol and reminder of Christ. It is interesting to me that the tree that I found solace in as a child is a symbol of Christ and as I grow older I am learning to find comfort in Him. What a beautiful reminder living in our woods and on our world.

The Legend is a really beautiful sentiment true or not. The version I read many years ago is not the same as this, but it does tell the story. So I share it with you today in honor of what our Lord did for us. 

               Happy Easter!             

The Legend of the Dogwood Many years ago, a dogwood tree grew on a hill outside Jerusalem. In those days, the dogwood tree was as tall and mighty as an oak, and this tree was the tallest of all the dogwoods, and extremely proud of its strength.  "Something wonderful is going to happen to me," it said to anyone who would listen. "I'll probably become the mast that holds the big sail on a grand ship, or the main timber supporting a great house."  Unfortunately, the huge old dogwood was cut down to become the cross to which Jesus was nailed. The tree was horrified. All its dreams of glory were smashed, and it groaned in agony as two boards from its trunk were nailed together.  Jesus took pity on the tree, even as he carried it to Calvary. "You will never be put to such use again," He told it. "From this day on, your shape will change, even as will the world. You will become slender and sway easily with the breeze. And instead of acorns, you will bear flowers in the shape of a cross... with two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal, there will be nail prints... brown with rust and red with bloodstains to show the world how you have suffered."  "Last of all, the center of your flowers will be marked as though with a crown of thorns to remind people forevermore, that you and I spent our last moments together." And so it was. And so it is.  ~ Author Unknown ~