On Being Connected

I promised yesterday that I would give more details about Morgan’s Celebration of Life.  In order to NOT break the promise, I’m going to give a few more details, but it won’t be the whole shebang.  I want to do that when I have the recording to upload.  Expect it for the long essay next weekend. I’m sorry for the delay, but in my mind, the details, thoughts, emotions, have to go along with when you have the opportunity to see it for yourself if you’re so inclined.

As I said, the weather was bad, actually pretty miserable.  It was cloudy and rainy and cold going into the church and coming out of the church.  It rained during the first three fourths of the tournament.  The overhang kept everybody but the players well covered, but it was like a wind tunnel up there.  The food got cold quickly.  Nobody complained, for at least the food was delicious.  It was BBQ from one of the best in Huntsville and they didn’t disappoint.  Buns or no buns - we have a lot of leftover buns.  The side dishes were all made by my friends or myself.  Southern Green Beans (bacon!), homemade macaroni and cheese (personal favorite of Morgan’s), grape salad (cream cheese, sour cream, sugar – topped with brown sugar and pecans) of which as my Rock 2 and I shopped together on Friday laughingly told me I was buying way too many grapes.  She picked them all off their vines and washed them without complaint, but I told her we were expecting a hundred people.  Her reply, “Maybe if all they’re eating is grape salad.”  So, Rock 2 was on the money.  Only a fourth of the grape salad got eaten.  There were many kinds of chips (in individual bags) and then for dessert, cheesecake bites (also bought way too much; Oh Darn!), chocolate pudding cake, (not much of that left!) and bread pudding, which I have a lot left.  The people who chose not to eat that don’t know what they missed.

I know you aren’t as interested in the party as the service, so here are a few details to keep you satisfied.  It was amazing!  People came up to me afterward who didn’t know her and said that now they felt like they did.  The speakers were emotional but able to talk, and the words they spoke about Morgan made my hubby and me so proud. I was extremely surprised to find out the day before that two of the executives from her last place of employment, Northstar Care,  were making the trip out for the service.  She’d only been with them for a few months, but she had also really impacted them in that short time.  We got to meet them, but they didn’t stay for the party/tournament afterward, so it was only a greeting unfortunately.

So that’s the nugget I’m sending today and now here is what today’s post is really about.  Especially for any younger readers that have found themselves here, I truly believe it is important to be the person who God created you to be.  My husband and I taught both of our children that.   The speakers were unanimous that Morgan was genuine.  She liked what she liked, did what she wanted to do, and was in no way fake.  She didn’t pretend to be interested in something she wasn’t, or someone she wasn’t, in order to win brownie points or to be less lonely.  One even described her as a cat. It used to bother her immensely when she had friends that were clearly with the wrong people, and she saw these friends change their values or priorities in order not to be alone.  It never made sense to her, and I was always proud she didn’t want to settle.  But what does this have to do with being connected?

One, you can’t be connected to something or someone if you aren’t yourself.  It’s like me, an entrepreneur, a writer, a mom trying to build a bridge over a waterway.  It’s not me, and although I could possibly do it with a lot of studying and a lot of help, I would hate every minute of it.  It’s not me.  I need to be connected to people who are like-minded.  Everybody does in order to be living their best life, which is the life that God wants us to have.  Kids as they grow up want to fit in, but the most important thing they can do is to be themselves.  They have to know they are loved as themselves, not only if they meet their parents or somebody else’s expectations.  Well, that is the same gift that God gives us adults.  He is there for us to be exactly who we want to be.  To do exactly what makes us the most happy and productive.  There should be no hesitation or fear because He loves us unconditionally, just like when we are at our best, we love our children unconditionally.

Our children are connected to us.  Especially when they are young, they need us to survive, but they also need us as adults.  They certainly don’t always take our advice, but knowing they have us as a sounding board keeps them connected.

God says in John 15:5   “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.”

On Tuesday April 4^th, as I was walking the dog, the city was trimming trees.  So many branches with the prettiest pink flowers lay on the ground and I could only wonder that if they could stay beautiful, I could certainly use them as more backdrop to the speakers at the church.  They said I could come back with my car and take what I wanted so I did just that.  I had some cloth pots I keep around, so I added dirt,  potting soil, and water and took this picture.

The very next day, April 5^th, they already looked like this.

Call me a Bible nerd, but I immediately thought of the verse above.  They really needed to be connected to their tree to even appear healthy.  It got me thinking of what a great analogy existed.  These cut off branches had everything the world says they need to survive.  They had decent soil, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and sunlight, but they really didn’t look as healthy.  Presentable if necessary, but nowhere near as good as when connected to the vine or in the case of the first picture, immediately thereafter.  Perhaps they had already been infiltrated by pests as well.

I thought it really fits!  People survive with enough food, water, oxygen, and a few other other things like companionship, entertainment, and a way to make a living or get handouts, but without being connected to the True Vine, they honestly don’t look or feel so good.  Presentable perhaps, but not as good as those connected to the Vine.  Being connected to the Vine gives life affirming love that “no matter what, you’re going to be okay.”  Nothing in the world can “buy” that or make you look better if you don’t have it.

This morning I took the dog for a walk in the same spot. In the next picture, you see the “brother and sister” branches of the ones I took away, after the workers (Satan) cut them off.  The ones still connected were still as beautiful as on Tuesday.

Being cut off from the vine creates a need that nothing but the vine can fill.  Trying to live your life without the True Vine eventually just gets you deader and deader until eventually you die.  It happens over days with actual branches and trees, but it happens over a lifetime with people.  Did you know that branches that have enough healthy ingredients (free of pests and diseases) can be grafted onto the tree again?

From the web site https://mast-producing-trees.org/how-to-graft-a-tree-branch,

“First, you need to make a cut on the branch you want to graft, about 3-4 inches long. Next, you need to make a similar cut on the tree trunk. Make sure both cuts are at a 45-degree angle. Now, it’s time to join the two cuts together. To do this, you need to take a piece of grafting tape and wrap it around the cuts, making sure the tape is tight. Once the two cuts are joined together, you need to wait for the graft to take – this can take a few weeks. Once the graft has taken, you can remove the grafting tape and enjoy your newly grafted tree branch!”  How is this unlike falling away from the Creator of the Universe, the one who made YOU and getting back together with Him again?

We need to feel pain and suffer before we even see our need.  That’s no problem in this world!  The trunk needs to feel the pain and suffering, too, and Jesus did that on Good Friday. The branch needing to be free of pests and disease is the same as repenting and wanting to be healthy.  The grafting tape is understanding the resurrection and what it means, and making it tight is studying His Word IN CONTEXT.  It takes some work, but it can definitely be done.  Do you like this analogy?

Just before writing this piece, I went out and took one more picture.  Looking even worse for sure!  So no matter where you are, you can connect to the Vine if you never really have.  I know it works, for I could not be surrounded by the beautiful branches that I am if it were not.