Dedication of our family tree

Last spring I planted a tree. My thought was that this would be our family tree.

Now I know it sounds a bit silly to dedicate a scraggly little tree (that came in a small box in the mail) as our family tree. If you can humor me for a moment and think of me as the trunk of the family tree, then maybe the connection makes more sense. When Betty and I started our life together I was definitely a scraggly wisp of a man. And I mean that physically, spiritually and emotionally. This spring there was one delicate and beautiful blossom on my cherry tree and that too reminded me of our beginnings- in my eye Betty was and still is the most beautiful flower my eyes have ever seen. This tree is such a reflection of our lives beginning together.

This tree is a fitting symbol of our family in so many ways. We began our life together as very young and very idyllic youth, just beginning to sprout and grow. Betty was 19 and I was but 20. Most people didn’t think we stood a chance getting married so young. And I confess there were many times if Betty had been in her right mind she would have traded me in on a flashier model! I praise God He never allowed her to be in her right mind. This tree is going to grow and as it does I hope it will be a reminder to all of us of how we have grown together over the years.

One of the ways this tree will remind us of our family, is that it is a cherry tree, but not just any cherry tree. This tree has a trunk onto which have been grafted three different varieties of cherries. As all of you know, God has blessed us in such a way - that by His hand and by His provisioning and by His power our family tree also has three varieties grafted onto it. He has blessed us with 8 children by birth, 3 (soon to be 5) children from Colombia, South America, and also the twins from Texas. The fruit this tree will bear will be three different colors. Our children like the fruit of this tree look different, ah but each one is a unique and special delight to Betty and I and to God for whom we steward them. Just as the fruit of this tree will one day be a delight to our palates. All of these children – God has grafted lovingly and deliberately onto the Porter family tree are a delight to Him. Together we are all shoots off the trunk, but one family as the branches on this tree together make up one tree.

And yet we are individuals, unique creations of God. The fruit of this tree will all be sweet but will have their own unique flavor. So too each of our children are given special gifts and talents that will allow them to produce different fruits to the glory of God. As they branch out and pursue God’s calling on their lives, each of their fruits will look and taste different (so to speak), but will all be a sweetness on God’s lips. It is commonly said that a fruit tree takes years to produce fruit from the day it is planted. The branches of our tree also must grow for a time before they can begin to bear fruit for God. Betty and I pray that we will be able to tenderly care for each branch so that in the appointed time each will produce much fruit.

As a dad, I find myself often joking and saying that I do not plan to tell any of my children that they are adopted. Of course this is something I would never need to tell them since they are so different from me in appearance that they absolutely will know that. We bought t-shirts for Makenzie and Isaiah that say, “Don’t tell parents, but they don’t look a bit like me”. They will know, and we would not want to hide this fact from them. On further reflection though, I think I will tell ALL of my children that they all are adopted. I will also want them to know that Betty and I are adopted. In a bigger sense, this little cherry tree represents the family of God. In Galatians 4:4-7 we read:

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

So as this tree grows, it will remind us of this great truth that we are all adopted into the family of God through our common faith in Jesus. I hope to one day be able to look each of my children in the eye and tell them they indeed are adopted. It is this middle aged man’s prayer that there will be many braches (grandchildren and great grandchildren) added to this family tree. I pray for many generations who will be adopted as sons of the most high God, many who will cry out to Him “Abba, Father”.

Jim