The bow, the bee, and the tree: Reflections on the last twelve months
This past weekend we celebrated my daughter’s first birthday. We had a wonderful time with our family remembering all that has happened with her in the last twelve months. The week that Julia joined our family was chaos. Maycember 2024 was in full swing… I will spare you all of the details, but this picture of our front yard, taken shortly after Julia was born, is a window into that season.
If you can ignore the poorly maintained mailbox area… pictured above is a bow, a bee, and tree.
I’ll start with the tree. If you look closely, you can see a huge tree down on the other side of our yard. The week Julia was born, a beautiful oak tree fell down during an unexpected storm. When the tree fell, our fence was destroyed, a massive crater formed in our yard, but most upsetting to me was that the majority of our shade was wiped out. I felt like Jonah in Jonah 4 when he was sulking about the plant that the worm destroyed. God asks him, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” 38 week pregnant Anne was angry about this tree. I was quick to let God know that while I was grateful for the life I was carrying and keeping my family safe while it fell, I was, in fact, angry about the tree. The tree was the disruption I did not want.
The bee. The bee on the mailbox is a gift all rising kindergartners at our elementary school receive. Our oldest had recently received his bee and was so proud to tell anyone and everyone. The bee was meaningful to Mark and me as well. It meant that by God’s grace we had parented one of our children out of his preschool era. From those first days of feeling completely overwhelmed, to navigating toddler tantrums, to now sending off to “big school,” this bee was a reminder of the Lord’s faithfulness. He led us to this point and reminded us how much we need Him as we continue to grow alongside our children.
The bow. The pink bow hung above the bee on the mailbox to welcome our daughter home. As I previously stated, it felt like Julia came home into chaos. We got back from the hospital on Sunday around 1:45, and Mark immediately went off to the soccer fields with the big kids for a 2:00 game. Adding a baby is a disruption to life as you know it, but unlike the tree, Julia was exactly the disruption for which we had hoped. Knowing the sleepless nights that were ahead, knowing the chaos would only build, we could praise God for the gift of her life and walk in confidence that He would be with us all the way.
I believe that our lives are often characterized with markers like we had last May. Disruptions (or challenges) that we would never choose for ourselves, disruptions (or challenges) that we choose, and moments where all we can do is humbly acknowledge that the only reason we have made it this far is because the Lord is always going before us.
As I looked at our mailbox this week, it donned another bumble bee and a birthday balloon. I can’t help but thinking of Samuel after they defeated the Philistines in 1 Samuel 7:
“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’”
Thank you Lord for your help. We are ever aware that we need it.