Wow! Did the high winds and rain from the October 29th storm shake our area almost to its core! Checking several times during the night to see if the cracking sounds were our towering pine trees dropping their heavy branches, I came across a poem I’d left on the kitchen table a few days before. This morning, with the sun once again shining but the winds still tearing at the trees, it seems a good time to share the poem’s message as a reminder about our strengths when life creates its storms.

The Oak Tree
by Johnny Ray Ryder, Jr.

A mighty wind blew night and day.
It stole the oak tree’s leaves away,
then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark,
until the oak was tired and stark.

But still the oak tree held its ground,
while other trees fell all around.
The weary wind gave up and spoke,
“How can you still be standing, Oak?”

The oak tree said, “I know that you
can break each branch of mine in two,
carry every leaf away,
shake my limbs, and make me sway.”

“But I have roots stretched in the earth,
growing stronger since my birth.
You’ll never touch them, for you see,
they are the deepest part of me.”

“Until today, I wasn’t sure
of just how much I could endure.
But now I’ve found – with thanks to you –
I’m stronger than I ever knew.”