Just a short personal story to explain the photo of the trees by the water in the last post.

I was vacationing with friends. When we arrived at our rented vacation home, the bedroom situation wasn’t quite what we had expected, and there was a tiny bit of disappointment and frustration. I was tired from traveling. My bed would be the couch in the library.

And I had too many noisy voices in my head that day. I was in the process of trying to sort out whether or not to leave a long-time job. Did I mention I was tired? I was confused. I was doubtful. I was arguing with myself, going ’round in circles. I was torn between old ways and habits of thinking and new paths I felt called to follow …

Not too many weeks before, Jeremiah 17:7-8 had seared itself into my heart. I’d made the decision to trust my future to God’s hands. It was the life I wanted to live.

But did I mention how weary I was that night? Doubts, discouragement, self-criticism, and — yes — even the thought of giving up on what seemed like an impossible vision for a new life … those are the things that held my heart and mind under siege as I went to bed that first night.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, the first imprint on my brain was the view you see in the photo. Without even lifting my head from my pillow, I saw green trees outlined against a shimmering stretch of silver sea. Trees by the water. I had a perfect view, from my bed on the couch.

God simply said, “Trust me.”

For a week, I woke each morning to the view of trees and water and was reminded, “Trust me.”

And, if you look verrrry closely at the photograph, there I sit between the trees at water’s edge… learning to be a tree planted by the water.