The old ford pick up truck spit and sputtered down the road, dad at the wheel and me sitting next to him with my arm dangling out the passenger window.  It’s a rusted out old truck, but a classic at that, with memories etched in its vintage cab.  The sun kissed the horizon and a haze of pink and peach-orange painted the sky as we drove down the back roads that ran alongside farm fields and patches of woods.      

        There’s comfort in the grasses and the trees and the wide open skies.  Nothing is ever as good on the heart as the way the winds and plants are.  Or the way the fresh air revitalizes my senses.             

        A sense of nostalgia floods the moment as the truck cruises on.  I begin to reminisce over those nights of sitting on the front porch swing and listening to the choir of crickets and frogs serenade us to sleep.  Leaving the doors unlocked or listening to the rain on an old tin roof.  Stargazing in an open field, talking about our dreams, excited for the future.  Sitting around the bonfire, guitars strumming and kids singing their hearts out.  Cowgirl hats and cowboy boots lined up along the metal railing, breathing in the dust of the horses rushing by.  Spotting deer in a hay field.  Flying down a back road, catching the last bit of sunset.  Coming in after a long day’s of work, all sitting around the table together listening to dad read the good book.

         I look at my dad sitting next to me, and imagine his childhood.  He grew up surrounded by farmland with long stretches of open sky.  Baseball and old trucks, deep conversations and a passion to learn and grow I imagine filled up much of his time.  He came from a small family with a simple way of living but never lacking in love.  Callous hands tell the story of this man, hard honest work building character and pride for what he has learned through the years.  There’s wisdom etched into the creases of his forehead and his heart beats fast with more selflessness than anyone I know.                       

        He has not always done the right things, and he has been through troubling circumstances.  They say storms make trees take deeper roots.  I believe it is deep roots that grow strong wings.  And when the roots are deep and the wings are strong there is no reason to fear the wind.  My dad is a man of deep roots, and his branches reach far into the sky.       

        A path to new discoveries and treasure chests yet to be unlocked awaits me on the other end of the journey.  Smaller than the roads on this map is one of the greatest things I have, the dirt in which my roots may grow, and the right to call it home.  No matter where in this world I go or what new people I meet, there’s only one place I call home.  It’s where I learned to love and learned to fight and stand up for everything I believe in.  I don’t know what lies ahead, what paths I will walk or what new ideas I will surely discover.  But as the wind runs through my fingers and I experience the simplicity of the life I have become so fond of, I hear the whisper of the trees and sense the prodding of the wind.  

“Don’t forget your roots.” 

            We are all stories.  Every one of us is going through a journey, in the hopes that we may find a way to conquer our fears and discover the truth and live out the truth.  Each story is a vital thread in the tapestry God is weaving together.  Through the steps of weaving a tapestry are the steps we take through life.   

            Oftentimes it is easy to feel the need to be in control.  Wanting to know when it will happen and how it will happen.  Things take place that we weren’t expecting and it’s in those times we feel the need to take charge.  It gives us a sense of security.  But it is not possible to control everything and we will never know everything that is going to happen and when it will happen and how. 

            It’s not always easy to see the valuable lesson being taught at a certain point in our lives. However, later as we reflect on past experiences and moments that helped shape the person we are today we can see the faithfulness of God.  Looking back we can often see the beauty of what we went through.  It’s a matter of trusting God and His plan for our lives. 

            Imagine the back of a massive tapestry in front of you.  All of these random strands of twisted colorful fibers thrown together hanging there and not making any sense.  But then you turn it around and you see a beautiful picture.  This beautiful woven piece of art with all of its threads and colors and pieces put together and it is complete.  This is what it is like when we are all woven together into each other’s lives, intentionally as God’s will is carried forward.  This complete tapestry of all these threads is woven together for a purpose so much bigger than all of those mismatched threads just hanging there, as seen on the other side. 

            Within all of those threads lies your thread, your story.  Woven into the mix of community, serving a purpose so much greater than you could imagine.  As much as we may wish to know, or try to contemplate and discover on our own- only God knows what the tapestry will look like when it is finished or what it truly looks like on the other side. He is the one behind the loom, we never were.   

            How can we know the ways of God?  One minute sooner, or one minute later- everything could be so different.  There are some things we just are not meant to know.  While it is natural to want to look ahead, we risk missing what God needs us to see in this time.  Time is never meaningless for Him and if we try to get ahead we may miss out on learning the very lessons that will so benefit us in the time to come. He is not ignoring us when time seems to have come to a halt, but rather keeping us in the present so we may equip ourselves for the things to come.    

            I love how God is always working.  He weaves together different times, places, people and moments to form our lives.  You might not even know that your thread is weaving into someone else’s.  It could be intentional on your part, or unintentional.  When we give ourselves over to God and let Him take charge, everything will come together in His perfect ways, His perfect timing and for His purpose.  Even when we don’t see it or don’t feel it, God is always engaged in our lives.  He makes the way for us.  He does things we would never think possible.  He is a strong tower, constant and fortified, ready and willing to equip us.  He can never fail us.  That is the beauty of the tapestry of God.