welcome to connect: project 2011

This blog is a project I'm undertaking for 2011... Why don't you join me?

The goal is to spend a little time each day reading from a devotional book, Daily in Christ by Neil T. Anderson, and connecting with people via blog post and comments.

Don't have the book yet? You can find it on Amazon, or you can read the daily post at:
www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/dailyinchrist

Why would we do this? For me, it's to reinforce a habit I need, to own my own faith, to connect with God and what He's saying to me, and to connect with people who are hungry to know God more...

Your reasons might be some of the same as mine.

The more folks read and comment, the richer the experience will be. Join the discussion!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Trees and science-y stuff

I heard a story over the weekend, and I went fact-checking…  It appears to be entirely true.  It’s about an experiment near Tucson, Arizona, called Biosphere 2, essentially a huge dome  (two and a half football fields) in which they created various habitats, and could control and measure all kids of science-y stuff.  Yup, lots of research.

The bit of the story I heard was about the trees they planted.  Surprisingly, they tended to fall over because they didn’t grow strong enough.  Here’s an excerpt from the Columbia University team’s work:

Wind is also necessary for creating hardy and strong trees. When it was first created, there was no wind inside of Biosphere 2. Plants grew relatively quickly, but they frequently fell over before they were of reproductive age. After some intensive observations and experimentation, it was determined that the lack of wind created trees with much softer wood than that species would normally make in the wild. They grew more quickly than they did in the wild, but they were harmed in the long run as a consequence. 


The implication is that without adversity, these trees never fully matured. 

So here I am (sometimes), asking God to fix my difficulties, and in the next sentence, asking Him to grow me deeper in Him.  It’s like my kids saying they’re hungry but don’t want to eat the healthy food on their plate, or that they want to buy a toy but don’t want to save up for it.  I could cave and give them what they’re asking for, but it would not be in their best interest, or mine, in the long run. 

Thank you, Neil, for shooting straight:  God’s plan is for you to hang in there and grow up.

Any questions? 

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About Me

I've been a teacher, a church administrator, and currently I'm an at-home mommy, which is my most challenging assignment yet. My home church is WellSpring - it's where my heart is, where my family is. I'm so grateful to God for His work in me and the people He's allowed me to share life with.