MAKE ROOM FOR GROWTH

My wife and I needed to mix things up a bit. Our typical Sunday routine was getting a bit ordinary, so we decided to take a mini road trip. We packed a picnic lunch and immediately after church we headed down the road.

The destination was a small town an hour’s drive away. It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining and a warm breeze…perfect conditions for a road trip. The road was fairly straight as it cut through seemingly infinite farms fields. Eventually, the road started to curve following the banks of a river that led to our planned destination. We pulled into the city park, found a shady spot to sit, and enjoyed our lunch.

After lunch, we took a short hike to the actual destination of our trip - the last old-fashioned covered bridge in the state.

It wasn’t like old paintings of a covered bridge; in fact, it has been well-maintained because cars haven’t been allowed to drive on it for decades.  We walked over it a couple times and started heading back to our car. As we walked down the path, I noticed a cluster of birch trees in their full shedding state. Birch trees are one of the few trees where you can actually see the bark’s shedding process. The old bark needs to shed to allow for the tree to continue to grow, which seemed rather fitting since the purpose of the trip was to shed our ordinary routine and allow for growth.

1 Peter 2:2 Like new born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.