Tree Lines

Have you ever noticed that mountains have a tree line? Only so far up the mountain are there trees. The peaks of the mountain are beautiful and from them, you can see for miles. They are also cold and nothing grows there. Similar to our spiritual lives, when we are on the peaks of the mountains we can see our past decisions, what we have learned, and all of the growing we have done. We also don't grow when we're on the peaks. Only when we are in the valleys do we do our growing. It's painful and sometimes we don't understand why we are learning the particular lesson. We certainly don't see the beauty of the peaks. We get stretched and go through our growing pains in the valley. We continue our climb up the mountains with God's guidance and only from up there do we see, reflect, and realize how we have grown; and sometimes we see why. ~Wisdom from my dear friend Carol: prayer-warrior, mother, grandmother, and raccoon-tamer.