Here is some of the text:
“Many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. “I wish I could make a cradle for him,” her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. “This manger is beautiful,” she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.
One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand and said, “Peace.” The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.
One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man’s hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God’s love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.”
“The next time you feel down because you didn’t get what you wanted, sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.”
What a beautiful concept, actually it’s not just a concept, but it’s the beautiful reality of a relationship between our creator God, who created all of us in His image, and us. This is our story, a story of a God who makes a covenant with us, that reached out to us, that sent his Son for us. You see, God doesn’t want us to hurt; we are not promised that painful things will be kept from us, for this life is not easy. Sometimes the world and life’s circumstances come down around us and often make us forget something really important, that we are never far from our Creator’s love.
Every day, at our Charity Shop, we attempt to show this love, and we meet people on a daily basis that are struggling, that are in pain, that are lonely, that have been in a bad place for a long time. Our hope is to help create an environment where their story has not only been heard, but has been met with prayer, and that they’re a part of a community that cares.
As I was showing a friend the pictures from our party, she commented, “Wow you are really a community now!”
And as I have gone over the pictures myself, I realize just that, that our Charity Shop has become a community, a place where God has brought us all together around this amazing project that helps those in need, and it is quite beautiful. God has brought this dream, which was a dream for years, to fruition in order to touch peoples’ lives.
At first glance, our little shop may not seem like much (fyi, the space you see in the pictures is not ours, it is one we rented for our party!); we may sometimes feel like one of the trees that doesn’t know its worth, we may not know a month from now how God will use us, but we do know God’s beauty is shining through.
