Several weeks ago we had some lumbermen cutting down seven of the walnut trees that have stood on our property for many decades. They first came to cut the tops out of the trees so they would fall without splitting the trees. There were hundreds of branches that were piled in several places around our property. Then they came and took the logs, but left all the branches in piles, which we expected. They did do a good job of leaving the property as good as possible, even raking many areas of our lawn.
The piles of brush were unsightly, and we thought before we got complaints from our neighbors we better begin eliminating them. The only way that we have to get rid of the brush is by burning. To do this, we first need to get a burn permit from our township fire department. After getting the burn permit, we started hauling the branches to a central burn pile. We carried many branches by making hundreds of trips back and forth from the brush piles to the burn pile. All the time the branches were burning so the fire never got too big. The project began on Wednesday of last week and we finished up, in the rain, early on Friday morning. When we finished every muscle in our bodies was telling us that they were hurting from all the tugging, pulling, and carrying. It was very interesting that when the fire subsided and all the branches were consumed, there was only a little pile of ash left from the hundreds of branches that were burned.
Those strong branches are now but a small amount of gray ash. It reminds us of how temporary everything is . Things come and go like the rulers of the nations or great athletes, but the psalmist was very sure to let all know that "the glory of the LORD shall endure forever." Forever is a very long time, whereas things of this earth are temporary.
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18
Blessings and Encouragement,
Paul, Gail, Patsy and Penny
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