Every time I use my driveway, my car bouncing over the uneven surface reminds me of the incredible strength roots have. My driveway is being broken apart from the bottom up by the roots of the giant Bradford Pear tree nearby. Roots are so powerful they can break up a solid slab of concrete weighing many tons!  We can try to pave over them, but roots are always there beneath the surface of our lives (and driveways).  They will eventually crack through any veneer we put over them.

I will always think of myself as a midwestern farm girl even though I now consider the beach my home.  Living on a farm gave me a strong work ethic and a deep love for nature.  The roots I grew during the years I lived on our farm are strong, but they are not the strongest roots I have. The real source of strength in my life is the roots I have planted in God.

I have grown away from God and even rejected Him at times. But roots, once planted, continue to grow out of sight under the dirt of our lives.  Our hearts may become hardened by our experiences, but roots are powerful enough to break a hard surface into smaller pieces.  I’m very thankful for this. Stones are much easier to clear away than large slabs of concrete.  Sometimes it seems to us as if we have grown so far away from God that we will never find our way back. The good news is that we can find our way, and we don’t have to move a solid slab of concrete to do it.  Just take it one stone at a time.